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

ifurcation of these two views, not for the sake of mere conciliation, but for the sake of
truth? The similarity of Luther and Calvin's view is semantic, and yet richer than merely
semantic, is it not?
4) Building on the overall point of 3), it must be noted that for Luther "the
bodily gift of the Supper is also 'spiritual.'" 734 Luther's exegesis, and therefore
association, of body/flesh and spirit was inconceivable to opponents such as Zwingli.
For Zwingli and his like, spirit and flesh are diametrically opposed, the two realms
being wholly distinct, never commingling. Not so for Luther, for whom, exegetically,
"spirit is the opposite of flesh in the sense of sinfulness." 735 Althaus may be quoted at
length, even as he quotes Luther at length:
For this reason, it is meaningless to consider the bodiliness in the sacrament
unimportant and unworthy of God in order to assert the Spirit's interests. Bodily
eating is itself a "spiritual" eating when it takes place in faith. For everything
which is done in faith is spiritual. "Everything that comes from the Holy Spirit is
spirit, spiritual, an object of the Spirit, in reality ad whether it is physical or
material, outward or visible; similarly, everything which comes from the natural
power of the flesh, without Spirit is flesh and fleshly no matter how inward and
invisible it may be." Christ's flesh is therefore "spiritual" because it comes from
the Spirit, and the bodily eating is spiritual because it is done in faith in God's
word. To eat "spiritually" does not mean that we receive something that is
merely spiritual; rather we receive a reality that comes from the Holy Spirit and
that must be received and enjoyed in a spiritual way, that is, in faith." 736
As noted above, Calvin, like Luther, emphasizes the salvific necessity of
participation in the humanity of Christ, in the flesh of Christ, and he emphasizes that
such participation is not merely figured but actually granted in the Supper. With
734 Lohse, Luther's Theology, 234.
735 Althaus, "The Lord's Supper," 395; Lohse, Luther's Theology, 308.
736 Althaus, "The Lord's Supper," 395-96, with reference to Luther, LW 37:99 and WA 23:203.
Also Steinmetz, "Scripture and the Lord's Supper," 76.
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