THE PROVENANCE OF JOHN CALVIN'S EMPHASIS ON THE ...

"that lest the bread and wine should deceive our senses, the true effect is conjoined with
the external figure, so that believers receive the body and blood of Christ." 274 In his
Second Defense against Westphal, published in 1556, Calvin writes, in direct response
to Westphal's charges:
I am said to defame those who hold that the true flesh of Christ is distributed in
the Supper: as if I did not uniformly declare, in distinct terms, that nourishment
from the true flesh of Christ is set before us in the Supper. What, then, does he
gain by employing the mists of lies to darken the light which clearly removes all
difficulty from the case? If any sincerely and distinctly teach that the flesh of
Christ is set before (proponi) us to be eaten by us, I, too, am of the number: I
only explain the manner, viz., that Christ overcomes the distance of space by
employing the agency of his Spirit to inspire (inspirandam) life into us from his
flesh. 275
Here Calvin clearly takes the Spirit to be the "agent" by whom Christ "communicates"
that which he offers.
In 1557 Calvin published his Ultima admonitio contra Westphal. As one would
expect, the Spirit figures prominently as "the bond" of believers' union with Christ, 276
and as the one by whose virtus Christ gives, or communicates, his flesh and blood for
spiritual nourishment. 277 Among his emphases about the Lord's Supper, Calvin brings to
the fore his understanding of the objective "nature of the Sacrament." At the Table,
Christ himself truly invites those who approach to partake of his body and blood, he
273 Tracts and Treatises 2:227.
274 Tracts and Treatises 2:225; CO 9:19.
275 Tracts and Treatises 2:287; CO 9:77.
276 E.g., Tracts and Treatises 2:374, 390, and 465. CO 9:162, 174, and 229.
277 E.g., Tracts and Treatises 2:384 and 413. CO 9:170 and 191.
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