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

and blood in the Supper, he does not speak of the Holy Spirit with respect to either. 125
When Calvin does speak of the Holy Spirit, he speaks of the Holy Spirit with respect to
reception: the Holy Spirit is the one who illumines minds and softens hearts for the sake
of the effect of the sacrament, which again, according to the 1536 Institutio, is
preeminently to "make us more certain of the trustworthiness of God." 126 Later, Calvin,
while not rescinding this dimension of the work of the Holy Spirit (nor this aspect of the
sacrament), will further elucidate the role of the Holy Spirit. He will speak of the Holy
Spirit not only as the one who "works efficaciously in believers" so that Christ's body
and blood are truly received by them, but also as the one who in fact grants such
efficacy to the sacraments that Christ's body and blood are truly exhibited, truly
communicated by means of their signs. 127 Clearly some "development" is to be
discerned here.
125 So, Inst. 1536, 109: "For the Lord so communicates his body to us there [in the Supper] that
he is made completely one with us and we with him." And Inst. 1536, 107: " In this manner, the body and
blood Christ are shown (exhibetur) to us in the Sac," "in this manner" referring to Christ's exerting his
"power" (CO 1:123). This point, especially concerning this second quotation, will be taken up further
below, in the discussion of Calvin's first revision of the Institutio, published in 1539.
126 This is Calvin's emphasis it seems: sacraments as testimony. See Inst. 1536, 90, 91, 92, and
93 for four prominent expressions. Calvin's emphasis here seems to be that the sacraments "feed" and
"nourish" "faith" with "testimony"; later, he emphasizes that the sacraments "feed" and "nourish" "souls"
with the body and blood and Christ.
127 To be fair, it must be noted that already in this 1536 edition of the Institutio, Calvin says, "For
the Lord so communicates his body to us there [in the Supper] that he is made completely one with us and
we with him" (Inst. 1536, 109). Still, the Holy Spirit is conspicuous by an absence in this expression of
that communication. Furthermore, Calvin's intimation here of the communication of Christ's body in the
occasion of the sacrament is overwhelmed by his repeated emphasis on the sacrament as "testimony," as
well as his emphasis on the communication of "all those benefits which Christ has supplies us with in his
body" (Inst. 1536, 107).
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