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

thought and expression about the Holy Spirit with respect to the sacrament may have
been taken up by Calvin in his own thought and expression about the same. Emphasis
admittedly falls on may in this claim, given the appropriate caveats previous scholars
have issued about the prospect of finding the sources of any one historical figure's
thought. 691 In the end, it shall be shown that Calvin's expression appears to be fresh, but
not so fresh as not to be considered an assimilation of the thought of his contemporaries
in as much as he understood their thought to be a faithful reflection of Scripture and
tradition. 692
6.1 Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Throughout his lifetime, Calvin proved himself a "critical disciple" of Luther. 693
As noted before, Luther's works were circulating widely in learned communities in
France by the time Calvin advanced in his academic pursuits in Paris, Orleans, and
691 See, e.g., Lane, "Calvin's Use of the Fathers: Eleven Theses," in Student of the Church
Fathers, 1-14; Oberman, "Initia Calvini," 117-127.
692 See e.g., Ganoczy, The Young Calvin, 134.
693 Brian Gerrish, "John Calvin on Luther," in Interpreters of Luther: Essays in Honor of
Wilhelm Pauck, ed. by Jaroslav Pelikan (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968), 69-70. This is the point of
Gerrish's article. It is also his take on Calvin in his book length treatment of Calvin's doctrine of the
Lord's Supper, Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin (Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1993). Gerrish's presentation in this work inclined at least one reviewer to suggest that he makes
Calvin out to be more of a Lutheran than he actually is (Tony Lane, review of Gerrish, Grace and
Gratitude, in Evangelical Quarterly 68 [July 1996], 251-252). On the point of Calvin being a "disciple"
of Luther, see also Ganoczy, The Young Calvin, 135, 137ff; and Robert D. Linder, "The Early Calvinists
and Martin Luther: A Study in Evangelical Solidarity," Regnum, Religio et Ratio: Essays Presented to
Robert M. Kingdon, ed. Jerome Friedman, Sixteenth Century Essays and Studies, Volume VIII
(Kirksville, Missouri: Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, 1987), 103-116. " . . . after the divisive
eucharistic controversy of the 1540s, . . . . Calvin, Viret, and Beza all maintained a basically friendly
attitude toward Luther, disagreeing with his position on the Lord's Supper but revering him as a godly
man and a pioneer in the restoration of the Gospel. Calvin continued to seek Luther's advice on matters
concerning the French Protestants. . . ." (Linder, "The Early Calvinists," 103; regarding the Lord's Supper,
see 105).
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