James 5;14-15

[Zenas]

14Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

15and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

This is the scriptural example of the sacrament of annointing the sick. Protestants deny this passage is sacramental because they say annointing with oil is a medical, not a spritual procedure. In support of their position, they say the Greek word used here for annointing has a medical connotation and that there is another Greek word that indicates a spiritual annointing. They maintain that this is nothing more than having someone pray over you when you are ill and at the same time receiving the proper medical treatment. Not being a Greek scholar, I can’t say. Can anyone shed any light on the sacramental nature of these verses, especially addressing the Greek word(s) for annoint?

 

[kkoleon]

regardless of the greek word we can see that grace is transmitted by the outward sign of anointing with oil. read the next passage, “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven”. It is one thing to heal with oil if we look at it in a medical context but the forgiveness of sins is something that is given from God. hence the charge against Jesus, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus responded that he has the authority to forgive sins and he transferred them to his apostles. Whoever’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven them. Whoever’s sins you retain, they have been retained."

 

[Cachonga]

I don’t believe I’ve ever heard this arguement before. I think it speaks very clearly of annointing and praying for the sick (whether someone wants to call it a sacrament is irrelevant), but not in a “medicinal” way (as kkoleon mentioned, this includes forgiveness of sins, which is beyond anything medicinal). Having received this sacrament before I was a teenager, I can say that (as far as I can remember) there was oil and prayer involved (the Church included the eucharist as well).

 

[Zenas]

Here is an example of the Protestant position I had in mind in the original post:

The oil provided more refreshment and soothing comfort than it did real relief for serious ailments, but people drank it as well as rubbing it on themselves as a medication. The term translated “anointing him with oil” in Greek refers to medicinal anointing, not religious ceremonial anointing. James used aleiphein (“rub”) here rather than chriein (“anoint”). The former word is the “mundane and profane” referring to all kinds or rubbing whereas the latter is the “sacred and religious” word used to describe religious ceremonies.

This is from a website called SonicLight | Plano Bible Chapel. The thrust of the argument is to distinguish medical practices from spiritual practices and to place anointing in the “medical” category.

 

[diggerdomer]

This is the scriptural example of the sacrament of annointing the sick. Protestants deny this passage is sacramental because they say annointing with oil is a medical, not a spritual procedure. In support of their position, they say the Greek word used here for annointing has a medical connotation and that there is another Greek word that indicates a spiritual annointing. They maintain that this is nothing more than having someone pray over you when you are ill and at the same time receiving the proper medical treatment. Not being a Greek scholar, I can’t say. Can anyone shed any light on the sacramental nature of these verses, especially addressing the Greek word(s) for annoint?

I agree with others who said the Greek text is not as significant here.

Jesus healed and forgave sins, often in one and the same act. Healing in their time was both a physical and spiritual event, they did not have the dichotomy of physical/spiritual that many do today.

The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick considers both spiritual and physical healing, though of course the primary focus is spiritual.