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

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"successfully encouraged the Bernese to grant him a hearing in September 1537." 936 He and Capito arrived with a short, sacramentally robust confession regarding the Lord's Supper, yet a confession that mentions the Holy Spirit not at all. 937 Sometime later, at the same synod, the Genevan ministers Farel, Viret, and Calvin presented a confession concerning the Lord's Supper as well, the Confessio fidei de eucharistia. 938 Taken to have been composed by Calvin, it, too, is sacramentally robust, centering its entire doctrine on the person and work of the Holy Spirit: Though Christ is in heaven and though we as pilgrims in mortality are neither included nor contained in the same space with him, yet the efficacy of his Spirit is limited by no bounds, but is able really to unite and bring together into one things that are disjoined in local space. Hence we acknowledge that his Spirit is the bond of our participation in him, [but such that] he really feeds us with the substance of the body and blood of the Lord to everlasting life, and vivifies us by participation in them. 939 rächt natürlich fleisch verwandlet oder der lyb imm brot verschloßsen werde, sonder geistlich, das ist geistlicher wis und mitt dem glöubigen gemůt" (Letter no. 4268, WA Briefwechsel 12:255). 936 Bruening, Calvinism's First Battleground, 82. 937 For the text in Latin and German parallel, see BDS 6.1:294-297. Amy Nelson Burnett writes of this confession: "Despite an initially unpromising situation [in Bern in September 1537], the Strasbourg theologians succeeded in persuading Bern's clergy to unite behind a confession on the Lord's Supper. The Strasbourgers confession taught that 'all of those who are in the congregation, approach the table, and receive the holy sacrament and do not pervert the Lord's word, but who believe it and celebrate it according to the Lord's institution, truly receive and eat the true body and the true blood of Christ together with the visible signs . . . not as a perishable food for the stomach, but as food for the soul too eternal life.' It should be noted that while this confession clearly went beyond Zwingli's symbolic and representational view of the sacrament, it was by no means a full endorsement either of Luther's own eucharistic theology or of the Lutheran position contained in the Augsburg Confession. It could be called Lutheran only in the sense that it accorded with the Wittenberg Concord, which Luther had accepted (Burnett, "The Myth of the Swiss Lutherans," 51-52, with reference to both BDS and to the "detailed description" of the synod in Carl Hundeshagen, Die Conflicte des Zwinglianismus, Luthertums und Calvinismus in der Bernischen Landeskirche von 1532-1558 [Bern, 1842], 74-89). 938 The Genevan ministers were invited by the Council of Bern at the request of Bucer and Capito. They were requested to present a statement regarding the Lord's Supper, and were looked upon as a neutral, third party to the ongoing discussion between Bucer, or Strasbourg, and the Swiss cities, given the rapprochement of Strasbourg with Luther in the signing of the Wittenberg Concord, May 1536. See Henri Vuilleumier, L'Âge de la Réforme, vol. 1 of Histoire de L'Église Réformée du Pays de Vaud sous le Régime Bernois (Lausanne: Éditions la Concorde, 1927), 635; and Registres du Conseil de Genève à L'Époque de Calvin, text est. Paul Hochuli Dubuis and Sandra Coram-Mekkey (Genève: Librairie Droz: 2004), 2:583. 286
This is the confession Bucer ratifies not only with a formidably large signature, but also with the following declaration: This statement of our dear brothers and colleagues, G. Farel, John Calvin, and P. Viret, we embrace as right doctrine, believing Christ our Lord in no sense to be diffused locally or ubiquitously in the Holy Supper, but that he has a true and finite body and remains in heavenly glory. Yet none the less, through his word and symbols, he is present in the Supper: He presents himself to us as we are by faith exalted to heaven with him, so that the bread we break and the cup through which we show Christ forth may be for us really the communion of his body and blood. Besides we hold as an error not to be tolerated in the Church that it is naked and bare signs that Christ sets forth in his blessed Supper, or not to believe that here the very body and the very blood of the Lord is received, that is the Lord himself true God and man. Written by his own hand—Martin Bucer. Subscribed—Wolfgang Capito. 940 If the Holy Spirit is so integral to Bucer's doctrine of the Lord's Supper—as, for example, Willem Van't Spijker suggests 941 —why is it that Bucer (with Capito) fails to mention the Holy Spirit in both the brief confession he himself prepared and his addendum to the confession that the Genevans prepared? Why? Is he striving to satisfy 939 Calvin: Theological Treatises, 168, with slight modification. "Nam utcunque nos in hac mortalitate peregrinantes in eodem loco cum mipso non includimur, aut continemur, nullis tamen finibus limitata est eius spiritus efficacia, quin vere copulare et in unum colligere posit, quae locorum spatiis sunt disiuncta. Ergo spiritum eius vinculum esse nostrae cum ipso particpationis agnoscimus, sed ita ut nos ille carnis et sanguinis Domini substantia vere ad immortalitatem pascat, et eorum participatione vivificet" (CO 9:711). 940 Calvin: Theological Treatises, 169. "Hanc sententiam optimorum fratrum et symmystarum nostrorum G. Farelli, Io. Calvini atque P. Vireti, ut orthodoxam amplectimur, neque unquam sensi Christum Dominum in sacra coena praesentem localiter aut ubique diffusum: verum et finitum habet corpus et in gloria manet coelesti. In hac autem nihilominus est per verbum suum atque symbola : hic sistit se nobis cum ipso iam in coelestia per fidem sublevatis, ut panis quem frangimus, et calix per quem Christum praedicamus, sit nobis vere corporis et sanguinis eius communicatio. Praeterea ut errorem in ecclesia non ferendum agnoscimus, nuda et inania Christum statuere in sacra sua coena symbola, et non credere hic ipsum quoque corpus, et ipsum sanguinem Domini percipi, hoc est ipsum Dominum verum Deum et hominem. Martinus Bucerus sua manu scripsit. Wolfgangus Capito subscripsit" (CO 9:712). 941 E.g., van't Spijker, "Bucer's Influence on Calvin: Church and Community," 33; van't Spijker, "The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in Bucer and Calvin"; Willem van't Spijker, "Calvin's Friendship with Martin Bucer: Did It Make Calvin a Calvinist?" in Calvin and His Contemporaries: Colleagues, Friends, and Conflicts, Calvin Studies Society Papers 1997 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: CRC Product Services, 1998), 174. 287
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THE PROVENANCE OF JOHN CALVIN'S EMP
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THE PROVENANCE OF JOHN CALVIN'S EMP
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For Paul, Liesl, & Annemarie. Witho
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CONTENTS Acknowledgments...........
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply indebte
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ABBREVIATIONS BDS Bucer, Deutsche S
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INTRODUCTION With respect to one of
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and secondary source material to my
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among humanists who dwell deeply on
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of the Greek Fathers for whom the i
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Optima ineundae concordiae ratio (1
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in the Supper," 13 Calvin refers to
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To make his point even more forthri
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I come to close quarters at once wi
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ends. 33 Read critically it becomes
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purpose, 'My flesh is meat indeed,'
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eality" (rei exhibitionem). 51 That
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themselves, because of their "natur
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locally present on earth, at least
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that there is a medium between thes
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another to receive." 85 The "nature
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the mouth of faith, 91 are truly fe
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concordiae ratio of 1560, "raises u
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1.4 Coda under the symbols of bread
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CHAPTER 2 A STUDY OF CALVIN'S REFER
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a historical development." 108 As J
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The chapter itself unfolds as a chr
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instructs us by his Word, confirms
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and blood in the Supper, he does no
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In light of his first treatment of
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y which under bread and wine he rep
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under the bread, or of the blood un
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participation we are fed on eternal
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François Gilmont conclude, "If it
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enclosed under some corruptible ele
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paragraphs before in this very trea
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preaching, as far as God uses the i
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moved and our souls opened for the
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ody, spirit, and soul with him. The
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In this passage Calvin concerns him
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order that they might truly receive
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minister and catechumen. He publish
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exert his energy (virtutem) by his
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same year Calvin published a liturg
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the vital role of the Holy Spirit w
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communicated in the sacrament, and
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(per spiritum), even although it is
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sacramentally, is Calvin's emphasis
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The nub of disagreement between Cal
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are three: "that the signs are not
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seemingly conceded the use of the t
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Spirit still figures as the "agent"
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truly fulfils what he figures, he t
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CHAPTER 3 A NARRATIVE, BIOGRAPHICAL
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with another, one must not simply i
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Paris were reading, appreciating, a
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Faculty and Parlement censured Berq
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devotio moderna" who longed for his
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Beyond the foregoing detail, little
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"brilliant classical scholar" 332 o
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oyally endowed lectures in the 'thr
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In May 1532, Calvin returned to Orl
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writes: "Like most of the humanists
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possibility exists, to which father
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which offered scholars opportunitie
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Oecolampadius' death in 1531 (just
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communes theologici, the first edit
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What of patristic influence? Lane t
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open repudiation of the "papist" in
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the churches and the destruction of
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defended the evangelical position,
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to his complete vilification by the
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is wholly due to "the secret and mi
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intention of devoting himself once
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Among medievals: Calvin cites Thoma
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whether positive or negative, of Me
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sources—the exegesis of Origen, 4
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placing loci into their commentarie
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"confluence" of humanistic and scho
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And, of course, Calvin seems to hav
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specifically refers include Bernard
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By now, an emphasis on the Holy Spi
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traditions, rather than by way of h
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subsequent early expressions (prepa
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distinguished Calvin's earliest ins
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sacraments" as seals of promises).
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that "a static view of the eucharis
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Supper between the publication of t
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Davis continues just a little on: O
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Chrysostom and published it in one
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It was in a sermon which Erasmus ha
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Like van't Spijker, Wendel claims d
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up again the question of the proven
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CHAPTER 5 ASSIMILATION: CALVIN'S DO
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when Calvin concerns himself with "
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the Lord's Prayer, and the Sacramen
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creation, "we are never to doubt or
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We are persuaded that there is for
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Here, the "efficacy" of the Spirit
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length. While the doctrine of the T
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Calvin's Trinitarian conception of
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… our faith receives from baptism
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the Godhead into itself. Now who do
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As noted in Chapter 2, Calvin inter
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Calvin broaches the conception of d
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with respect to the person and work
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In his exposition of the confession
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So Christ, the Son, is appointed by
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us to seal the gift of a thing invi
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himself, not the Spirit, but Christ
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Spirit He consecrates us as temples
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This is evident from Calvin's prefa
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CHAPTER 6 ASSIMILATION: THE THOUGHT
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integrate his ideas into a powerful
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Bourges. 694 So it is not unlikely,
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Luther's own doctrine of the Lord's
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Luther's doctrine of the Lord's Sup
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Supper of 1528, 718 Luther employs
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proof that only a spiritual eating,
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ifurcation of these two views, not
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The point is then, that although Ca
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naturally'—vere et efficaciter ex
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Therefore just as the word is an in
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Page 249 and 250: this view in his definition of the
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Page 253 and 254: doctrine as an argument for Christ'
Page 255 and 256: physically." This fact seemingly mi
Page 257 and 258: He then proceeds to his exegetical
Page 259 and 260: sharers in all his blessings." 800
Page 261 and 262: century. 808 Oecolampadius had been
Page 263 and 264: Oecolampadius' treatment of the sac
Page 265 and 266: The extent to which Calvin had acce
Page 267 and 268: Clearly Oecolampadius is concerned
Page 269 and 270: Calvin's thought and expression is
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Page 273 and 274: which, being received spiritually b
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Page 281 and 282: The Zwinglian, even "Karlstadtian,"
Page 283 and 284: judiciously, distinguished his thou
Page 285 and 286: Bucer and Capito given that it was
Page 287 and 288: might have been picked up from Bren
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Page 295 and 296: signified. Christ himself is encoun
Page 297: The 1537 Synod of Bern was called,
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Page 305 and 306: By esprit, Viret is presumably spea
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Page 313 and 314: efers to the Spirit as the nexus be
Page 315 and 316: Now, it cannot be declared definiti
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Page 319 and 320: Since Calvin's early interest in th
Page 321 and 322: "Calvin's use of the fathers (espec
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Page 325 and 326: the Spirit as the vinculum 1013 —
Page 327 and 328: Interestingly, in his presentation
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Page 331 and 332: Once again Calvin's signature expla
Page 333 and 334: of the Institutio, and the expressi
Page 335 and 336: Even though such an expression is n
Page 337 and 338: Throughout the dialog between the K
Page 339 and 340: himself." So Butin, for one among o
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Page 345 and 346: Ratramnus were monks at the Benedic
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Lord's Supper and Ratramnus'. 1089
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Here, as in the passage above, Ratr
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theological tradition of the church
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8.1 Calvin's Liturgy: Context and C
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himself and printed in Strasbourg i
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On the day of the Lord's Supper, th
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himself invites us to His Table: th
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one "disposes" one's soul "to be no
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edition of his Institutio, "suggest
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Their content is likewise distinct.
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lavishness of God's "peace, grace,
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Bürki suggests. And yet such a ric
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Bucer's rhetorical set-up of this c
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truly be for us the communion of Hi
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in true childlike trust, and always
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"Gott sei gelobet" or a psalm, afte
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The prayer of confession immediatel
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Calvin's Genevan and Strasbourg rub
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not only Germany, but also the Neth
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However, given their thematic struc
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For all their resonance, though, it
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disposition could subscribe to it,
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and beyond? 1213 What is the measur
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CONCLUSION The front matter of this
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expositions of the sacrament—pres
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uniquely ordained for such proclama
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Institutio christianae religionis,
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Hazlett, W. Ian P. "Calvin's Latin
Page 405 and 406:
-----. "Confession on the Eucharist
Page 407 and 408:
-----. De Trinitate, translated by
Page 409 and 410:
Battles, Ford Lewis. "The Sources o
Page 411 and 412:
-----. Revelation, Redemption, and
Page 413 and 414:
Farge, Benjamin W. Orthodoxy and Re
Page 415 and 416:
Guggisberg, Hans R. Basel in the Si
Page 417 and 418:
Koopmans, J. Het oudkerkelijk dogma
Page 419 and 420:
Macy, Gary. The Theologies of the E
Page 421 and 422:
Neuser, Wilhelm H., and Brian G. Ar
Page 423 and 424:
Partee, Charles. "Farel's Influence
Page 425 and 426:
------. "Philip Melanchthon." In Re
Page 427 and 428:
van Stam, Frans Pieter. "Das Verhä
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