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

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the Holy Spirit. As in his 1536 Institutio, Calvin founds this presence on Christ's spiritual virtus: In the case of the Eucharist, you blame us for attempting to confine the Lord of the universe, and his divine and spiritual power . . . . But had you any regard for sincerity, assuredly you are not ignorant how great a difference there is between the two things—between removing the local presence of Christ's body from bread, and circumscribing his spiritual power within bodily limits. 204 To Calvin, Christ's spiritual power is anything but circumscribed within Christ's bodily limits, and it is on this basis that he grounds the presence of Christ in the Supper: We loudly proclaim the communion of flesh and blood, which is exhibited to believers in the Supper; and we distinctly show that that flesh is truly meat, and that blood is truly drink—that the soul, not contented with an imaginary conception, enjoys them in very truth. That presence of Christ, by which we are ingrafted in him, we by no means exclude from the Supper, . . . . 205 Unlike in his most recent discussions of the Lord's Supper, Calvin does not specifically identify the Holy Spirit, though the Spirit is arguably readily implied by the use of "spiritual." Still, the "omission" is surprising, given his "loud proclamation" of the communion of Christ's flesh and blood, and his emphasis that the "presences of Christ, by which we are ingrafted in him," is not excluded from the Supper. 2.4 1541-1545: Geneva In September 1541, at the behest of the Genevan city council and church, Calvin returned to his first charge and was immediately engaged in putting out works that would benefit the citizens of Geneva pastorally. By the end of November, he had prepared a fresh catechism for Geneva, this time in the form of a dialog between a 204 Tracts and Treatises 2:45. 205 Tracts and Treatises 2:45-46. 70
minister and catechumen. He published the catechism first in French in 1542, Le Catéchisme de l'église de Genève, c'est a dire le Formulaire d'instruire les enfants en la chrestienté, 206 and then in Latin in 1545, Catechismus ecclesiae Genevensis, hoc est, formula erudiendi pueros in doctrina Christi. 207 In his discussion of the third strophe of the Apostles' Creed, relating to "faith and the Holy Spirit," Calvin asserts that God by his Spirit "make[s] us capable" of "redemption and salvation." 208 Elaborating on this point Calvin writes, "I mean that the Spirit of God, while he dwells in our hearts, makes us to feel the virtue of Christ (Romans 8:11)." 209 "For when our minds conceive the benefits of Christ," says Calvin, it is owing to the illumination of the Holy Spirit; to his persuasion it is owing that they are sealed in our hearts (Eph 1:13). In short, he alone makes room in us for them. He regenerates us and makes us to be new creatures. Accordingly, whatever gifts are offered us in Christ, we receive by the agency of the Spirit. 210 A little on, Calvin emphasizes the role of the person of the Holy Spirit to illumine our minds so that spiritual wisdom might be comprehensible: "the Holy Spirit by his 206 CO 6:1-134. 207 CO 6:1-146. Standard English translations may be found in Tracts and Treatises 2:33-94, and Calvin: Theological Treatises, 88-139. 208 Tracts and Treatises 2:50. 209 Strikingly, Calvin's prooftext here, Romans 8:11, is the same text Calvin cites in his 1539 Institutio (cf. Inst. 1559 LCC 4.17.12) when he speaks of the Holy Spirit as "the bond . . ." of our participation in Christ. There he also cites a sermon of Chrysostom. See above. 210 Tracts and Treatises 2:50."C'est à dire que le sainct Esprit habitant en noz cueur s, nous fait sentir la vertu de nostre Seigneur Iesus (Rom. 5, 5). Car il nous illumine pour nous faire congnoistre ses graces: il les seellé et imprime en noz ames, et leur donne lieu en nous (Ephes. 1, 13). Il nous regenere et fait nouvelles creatures (Tit. 3, 5): tellement que par son moyen nous recevons tous les biens et dons, qui nous sont offers en Iesus Christ" (CO 6:37). "Intelligo spiritum Dei, dum in cordibus nostris habitat, efficere ut Christi virtutem sentiamus. Nam ut Christi beneficia mente concipiamus, hocfit spiritus sancti illuminatione: eius persuasione fit, ut cordibus nostris obsignentur. Denique, solus ipse dat illis in nobis locum. Regenerat nos, facitque ut simus novae creaturae. Proinde, quaecunque nobis offeruntur in Christo dona, ea spiritus virtute recipimus" (CO 6:38). 71
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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
Page 31 and 32: purpose, 'My flesh is meat indeed,'
Page 33 and 34: eality" (rei exhibitionem). 51 That
Page 35 and 36: themselves, because of their "natur
Page 37 and 38: locally present on earth, at least
Page 39 and 40: that there is a medium between thes
Page 41 and 42: another to receive." 85 The "nature
Page 43 and 44: the mouth of faith, 91 are truly fe
Page 45 and 46: concordiae ratio of 1560, "raises u
Page 47 and 48: 1.4 Coda under the symbols of bread
Page 49 and 50: CHAPTER 2 A STUDY OF CALVIN'S REFER
Page 51 and 52: a historical development." 108 As J
Page 53 and 54: The chapter itself unfolds as a chr
Page 55 and 56: instructs us by his Word, confirms
Page 57 and 58: and blood in the Supper, he does no
Page 59 and 60: In light of his first treatment of
Page 61 and 62: y which under bread and wine he rep
Page 63 and 64: under the bread, or of the blood un
Page 65 and 66: participation we are fed on eternal
Page 67 and 68: François Gilmont conclude, "If it
Page 69 and 70: enclosed under some corruptible ele
Page 71 and 72: paragraphs before in this very trea
Page 73 and 74: preaching, as far as God uses the i
Page 75 and 76: moved and our souls opened for the
Page 77 and 78: ody, spirit, and soul with him. The
Page 79 and 80: In this passage Calvin concerns him
Page 81: order that they might truly receive
Page 85 and 86: exert his energy (virtutem) by his
Page 87 and 88: same year Calvin published a liturg
Page 89 and 90: the vital role of the Holy Spirit w
Page 91 and 92: communicated in the sacrament, and
Page 93 and 94: (per spiritum), even although it is
Page 95 and 96: sacramentally, is Calvin's emphasis
Page 97 and 98: The nub of disagreement between Cal
Page 99 and 100: are three: "that the signs are not
Page 101 and 102: seemingly conceded the use of the t
Page 103 and 104: Spirit still figures as the "agent"
Page 105 and 106: truly fulfils what he figures, he t
Page 107 and 108: CHAPTER 3 A NARRATIVE, BIOGRAPHICAL
Page 109 and 110: with another, one must not simply i
Page 111 and 112: Paris were reading, appreciating, a
Page 113 and 114: Faculty and Parlement censured Berq
Page 115 and 116: devotio moderna" who longed for his
Page 117 and 118: Beyond the foregoing detail, little
Page 119 and 120: "brilliant classical scholar" 332 o
Page 121 and 122: oyally endowed lectures in the 'thr
Page 123 and 124: In May 1532, Calvin returned to Orl
Page 125 and 126: writes: "Like most of the humanists
Page 127 and 128: possibility exists, to which father
Page 129 and 130: which offered scholars opportunitie
Page 131 and 132: 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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eading them." 760 Given its context
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this view in his definition of the
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the contemplation of faith" (adesse
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doctrine as an argument for Christ'
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physically." This fact seemingly mi
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He then proceeds to his exegetical
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sharers in all his blessings." 800
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century. 808 Oecolampadius had been
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Oecolampadius' treatment of the sac
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The extent to which Calvin had acce
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Clearly Oecolampadius is concerned
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Calvin's thought and expression is
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faithfully defending his predecesso
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which, being received spiritually b
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sacraments, as signs of things sign
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espect to the sacraments, at least
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eliever, operatio spiritu sancti. A
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The Zwinglian, even "Karlstadtian,"
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judiciously, distinguished his thou
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Bucer and Capito given that it was
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might have been picked up from Bren
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"Lutheran-leaning," or, as Amy Nels
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Confessionis Augustanae (1530), 912
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Spirit might incite confusion, migh
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signified. Christ himself is encoun
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The 1537 Synod of Bern was called,
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This is the confession Bucer ratifi
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Lausanne, but also the Pays de Vaud
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the disputation, the Lord's Supper
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By esprit, Viret is presumably spea
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ecepvoir de grace en son corps et e
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thought, though never in a direct q
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1542, when he edited for publicatio
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efers to the Spirit as the nexus be
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Now, it cannot be declared definiti
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Charybdis of Zwingli's spiritualist
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Since Calvin's early interest in th
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"Calvin's use of the fathers (espec
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. . . quando hoc beneficii per spir
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the Spirit as the vinculum 1013 —
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Interestingly, in his presentation
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is likely spurious, its preparer be
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Once again Calvin's signature expla
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of the Institutio, and the expressi
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Even though such an expression is n
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Throughout the dialog between the K
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himself." So Butin, for one among o
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sacramental is equivalent merely to
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Spirit is not expressed in Augustin
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Ratramnus were monks at the Benedic
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as the papal legate designated to p
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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
Page 381 and 382:
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
Page 387 and 388:
However, given their thematic struc
Page 389 and 390:
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
Page 395 and 396:
CONCLUSION The front matter of this
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expositions of the sacrament—pres
Page 399 and 400:
uniquely ordained for such proclama
Page 401 and 402:
Institutio christianae religionis,
Page 403 and 404:
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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