Today, we
will continue our series on the Catholic sacraments. This is the fifth one that I’ll be addressing
and it is called Anointing of the Sick, sometimes referred to as “Extreme
Unction” (CCC #1512).
As you can
tell by the name, it deals with anointing a sick person with oil in order for
him to be healed. Now, Protestants don’t
normally have an issue with this concept, since it is a biblical one:
Is any
sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer
of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that
ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much. (James 5:14-16)
And Catholics claim to
base this sacrament mainly on this particular passage. But according to the Catechism of the
Catholic Church, they claim a special power in this sacrament, the effects being:
·
The Anointing of the Sick unites the sick person to the passion of
Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church;
·
gives the person the strength, peace, and courage to endure in a
Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
·
imparts the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able
to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
·
provides for the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the
salvation of his soul;
·
helps the sick person in the preparation for passing over to
eternal life. (CCC #1532)
Preparing for the Final Journey?
In the
Catholic Church, the Anointing of the Sick is also associated with a practice
called the “Last Rites,” which is actually a collection of prayers and
sacraments given to a person who may be in grave danger of dying. The sacraments involved in the Last Rites are
the Anointing of the Sick, Confession and the reception of the Eucharist (Holy
Communion).
CCC #1523
talks of preparing for the final journey.
CCC #1525 says:
“Thus, just as the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and
the Eucharist form a unity called ‘the sacraments of Christian initiation,’ so
too it can be said that Penance, the Anointing of the Sick and the Eucharist as
viaticum constitute at the end of Christian life ‘the sacraments that prepare
for our heavenly homeland’ or the sacraments that complete the earthly
pilgrimage.”
But this is
deceptive in the sense that it teaches that there are rituals that must be done
to enter Heaven. We don’t get saved by works, sacraments, or
rituals and we don’t maintain our
salvation by works, sacraments, or rituals.
We get there, and stay there, by faith,
that is, faith in the work and suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross of
Calvary (Galatians 3:1-5).
Trusting in that alone will save us in our “final journey.”
Priests or Elders?
In CCC
#1519, the Catechism specifically mentions the “priests of the Church” as one
of the principal elements in this sacrament (Anointing of the Sick), and it
footnotes James 5:14, which tells us to call for the elders of the church.
I’ve covered
this several times on this blog, and I want to emphasize it again: the word for
“elders” in James 5:14 is the Greek “presbuteros.” It is NOT the same biblical term used for
“priests.” The biblical term for
“priest” in the New Testament is the Greek “hiereus.” “Hiereus” is the same Greek word used for Old
Testament priests, as well (e.g., Matthew 12:4-5; Luke 17:14; John 1:19; Acts
4:1and 6:7; Hebrews 8:4). Furthermore,
“hiereus” is also used of the universal priesthood of all believers (Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). Even in the Old Testament, “elders” and priests were two different
groups. So, according to the God-breathed
Scriptures, an elder is not the same thing as a priest. This is a constant diversion used by
Catholics. See these
links:
https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2010/03/priesthood.html
https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2018/07/where-are-all-priests-in-new-testament.html
Authority to Forgive?
When the
elders in the local church pray for someone according to James 5:14-16, the person
can have a reasonable expectation to be healed, and even forgiven (v.
15). I actually like the way the
Catechism puts it:
“… the liturgy has
never failed to beg the Lord that the sick person may recover his health if
it would be conducive to his salvation.” (CCC #1512 – Emphasis added)
There is
nothing wrong with praying for someone’s health, and it is certainly not wrong
to pray for his forgiveness. But the
forgiveness does not come from the elders,
nor does it come from any ritual that they perform. They don’t have special power to grant
forgiveness. That is a Catholic
misunderstanding of Scripture. We can
indeed forgive one another for personal
sins committed against each other, but absolution (a “clean slate” or total
forgiveness of sins) is something that God alone can do. Furthermore, any Christian can biblically recognize and declare that someone is
forgiven (absolved), but only based on the person’s positive response to the
gospel of Jesus Christ, not on any special authority of a man.
Conclusion
As I said
earlier, Protestants don’t (generally) have an issue with the concept of
anointing of the sick (which is biblical), but Extreme Unction is a different
and non-biblical issue. Extreme Unction
is a very dangerous concept that many people (even some non-Catholics) believe. It is dangerous because they are trusting that
this last-minute Catholic ritual can save the soul of the dying person! But once again, this is not so. Priestly rituals are works, and no works can
save an individual. But the Catholic
Church wants its priests involved in all areas of the lives of its members. Please remember that the Catholic Church
intends to impose itself upon all Catholics through dependence on the Church (priesthood) from cradle to grave. In this system, it is the priests (not Jesus) who are the
mediators between man and God (1 Timothy 2:5).
But Extreme
Unction is a false hope. It would be far
more advantageous (and biblical) for someone to share the simple gospel with
the person on his death bed. They say
that the last thing to go before death (concerning our five senses) is our
hearing. I believe that this is so the
gospel can be shared with them, even if they seem unresponsive. If one can hear the gospel, he can respond
(at least internally) and be saved. The
Bible promises that whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).
The repentant
thief on the cross next to Jesus (Luke 23:39-43) was a good example
of this simple salvation. He could do no
good works – he could not come down from his cross and get baptized, give to
the poor, or help anyone cross the street.
All he could do was call on Jesus… and he did! He is now memorialized in the sacred
Scriptures as an eternal witness and example to all – obtaining salvation is
free to all who come to Jesus. It is
simply a matter of a changed heart when you surrender to God and trust in His
Son, Jesus Christ. (Ezekiel 36:26; John 3:16; 11:25; James 4:7)
This sacrament,
this Catholic version of Anointing of the Sick is ultimately an unbiblical
false hope and a twisting of the Scriptures.
