"In White's uniquely helpful way, this text depicts the whole sweep of Protestant sacramental life. The sacraments were central to the controversies that led to and were a part of the Reformation of the sixteenth century. In the last fifty years, most traditions have made substantial revisions to their sacramental rites.

This book traces the most significant changes in practices over the past five centuries, the controversies that they engendered or were born out of, and the faith that these rites were understood to express and embody."--BOOK JACKET.