The office of Rural Dean is an ancient office of the Church, and is mentioned as early as the time of Edward the Confessor. SABAOTH. A Hebrew word meaning _hosts_ or _armies_. _Jehovah Sabaoth_ is the Lord of Hosts. "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth." SABBATH. _Rest_. The seventh day of the week, commanded in the Decalogue to be kept holy, and still observed by the Jews. The Christian Sabbath is kept on the first day of the week. (See _Sunday_ and _Lord's Day_.) SACERDOTALISM. The spirit or character of the priestly class or priesthood; devotion to priestly interests. From Latin _Sacerdos_, one given to sacred things. SACRAMENT. Latin, _sacramentum_, an _oath_ or _promise_ ratified by a sacred or religious ceremony; thus the oath taken by soldiers in classical times was called _sacramentum_. In the early Church the word "sacrament" was used to express the promises made by Christians in Holy Baptism. Then it came to be used of the ceremony itself, and thence to signify any religious ordinance. In this extended sense the Church of England acknowledges other rites to be sacraments beside Baptism and the Eucharist; thus in the Homily on Swearing we find, "By the like holy promise the _sacrament of matrimony_ knitteth man and wife in perpetual love," &c. So the catechism does not limit the number of sacraments to two, but says, "Two only, as _generally necessary to salvation_." Thus in the Church of England we distinguish Baptism and the Eucharist from all other ordinances, because they are, what the others are not, necessary for salvation to all men, wherever they can be had. Other ordinances may confer grace, but Baptism and the Eucharist alone unite with Christ Himself. Thus we may say that in the strict definition of the word there are only two sacraments. Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that there are _seven_ sacraments, but this can hardly be borne out; for if the word be taken in the larger sense as meaning any religious ordinance, then there are more than seven, but if in a limited sense, there are only two. For the Roman view of sacraments see Article xxv. The Church Catechism defines a sacrament in the strict sense as follows:--It is "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ Himself as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof."