Recent sacramental developments in the Kirk

Abstract

This extended paper examines the procedure of the Church of Scotland in relation to the admission of children to the Eucharist before they make a public profession of faith. It considers the Kirk’s current legislation on paedocommunion in the context of: the Reformed doctrine of the sacraments; eighteenth-century discussion of the question; the protracted debate on the issue in recent decades; and the influence of the sacramentology of Karl Barth. It concludes by raising some important questions about the logic of the Kirk’s present practice and doctrine relating to the issue.