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

of symbol, to have communion with Christ's body and blood; for bread is a
symbol of nourishment, wine a symbol of refreshing, without reference to
the time or place of receiving them; their whole character as symbols
depends on what bread is, as bread--on what wine is, as wine; and the
Corinthian could make the table of Demons a Lord's Supper by the simple
mental act of thinking of the bread and wine as symbols of Christ's body
and blood. A vine, as a symbol of Christ, is equally a symbol, whether it
grows on the land of devil-worshippers or of Christians; bread, as a symbol
of Christ's body, is equally a symbol, whether baked by Atheist, Jew, or
Pagan; whether eaten at the table of Demons or at the table of the Lord.
The logic of Zwingli's position is, then, exactly the opposite of that of the
Apostle, and would make his conclusion in the last degree absurd.
Equally do the words overthrow the Calvinistic theory. Calvin's
theory is, that the Holy Spirit communicates the body of Christ; Paul's is,
that the bread communicates it; he mentions but two elements, bread and
body. Calvin says, the Holy Spirit communicates the blood of Christ; Paul
says, that the cup communicates it, two elements only again, cup and
blood, not three: cup, Holy Spirit, and blood. Calvin makes faith the
communicating medium; Paul says, the bread we break, the cup we bless,
is the communicating medium. Calvin makes the communion of the body
and blood of Christ, one which is confined to worthy recipients, true
believers, while to all others there is but the communication of bread and
wine; Paul is speaking of what the communion also is to some who "eat
and drink unworthily," "not discerning the Lord's body," "eating and
drinking damnation to themselves," "guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord," and yet he affirms that to them the bread communicates the body,
the cup, the blood of Christ. Calvin's communion is one which can take
place anywhere and always, inasmuch as the Holy Spirit is always present,
and faith can always be exercised; Paul's is expressly limited to that with
which the bread and cup are connected. Calvin's is a communion of the
virtue and efficacy of the body and blood of Christ; Paul's is a communion
of the body and