The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology - Saint Mary ...

of His body," not His body itself, was given for us, the symbol of His
blood, not His blood itself was shed for us, this view is generally
abandoned. It was the view of OEcolampadius, the Melanchthon of
Zwingli in the Swiss Reformation, but far greater than his master. He was
too good a scholar to be ignorant that the metaphor, if there be one, must
lie in one of the nouns connected, and not in the substantive verb which
connects them. As the bread was indubitably literal bread, he saw that he
must either make "body" metaphorical, or abandon the idea of metaphor,
The later divines of this general school rejected this theory with an
earnestness which shows that they were ashamed of it. Thus BEZA: 371
"The words which follow, to wit, 'which is given for you' and 'which is
shed for you,’ compel us to understand the words of the very substance
itself of the body and blood of Christ." “We do not doubt that by the term
body is meant that very body which was assumed for our sakes and
crucified." This view of Beza was, indeed, the view of the whole body of
Calvinistic theologians, with few and inconsiderable exceptions. The sole
refuge left, therefore, for the disputer of the doctrine of our Church, is in the
word "IS." The word "is," Zwingli 372 and those who follow him say
means "represents, signifies, is a symbol
371 Epis. 5, ad Alaman. III. 202, and Adv. Illyricum, 217.
372 Zwingli did not originate this interpretation. He adopted it from Honius, a contemporary whose name is now
almost forgotten. Zwingli's account of the growth of his own theory is very interesting. He says: "I saw that the
words 'This is My body,' are figurative, but I did not see in what word the figure lay. At this point, by the grace of
God, it happened that two learned and pious men came to consult on this matter; and when they heard our opinion
(for they had concealed their own, for it was not then safe to express opinions on the subject freely) they thanked
God, and gave me an untied package, the letter of a learned and pious Hollander (Honius). In it I found this precious
pearl that 'is' here means 'signifies.' When we were compelled to explain our opinions openly it seemed more discreet
to open with that key the word in which the figure lies, than simply to say: It is a figure."--Opera, Turic., 1832.
Vol. III. 606.
This frank history shows that Zwingli framed his theory first, and cherished it for some time before he
could see how the Word of God was to be harmonized with it. Even when he came to see, that "is" means
"signifies," he could find no evidence of it, till it was revealed to him in that extraordinary vision of the man of
dubious color, which was so mercilessly ridiculed in the old controversies.