This is my Body: A Reformational Comparison between Calvin and Luther’s Sacramentology, Part III

Calvin spends a significant amount of time responding to his opponents. Though the majority of his efforts are spent responding to transubstantiation, ¹ he spends time in the Institutes of Christian Religion interacting with some apologists for the Lutheran view. There is no direct positive commentary on Jesus’ words of institution in the Institutes, but in his commentary on the Harmony of the Gospels he spends a short time dealing with the meaning of the phrase. He begins his commentary on the words “This is my body” by commenting that some “entertain” what the phrase means. This is an unfortunate element of Calvin’s discussion, namely that he spent a major part of his treatments responding to his opponents instead of making a positive case for the meaning of Jesus’ words of institution. ²

Calvin takes a few sentences to give adequate treatment of those words of institution in the gospel of St. Matthew. Concerning the words of our Lord he writes, “that it is not an empty or unmeaning sign which he held out to us, but those who receive this promise by faith are actually made partakers of his flesh and blood.” Further he notes “that Christ presents himself to be enjoyed by us in the Lord’s Supper; for, though we perceive nothing in it but bread, yet he does not disappoint or mock us, when he undertakes to nourish our souls by his flesh. The true eating of the flesh of Christ therefore, is not only pointed out by the sign, but is likewise exhibited in reality.” ³ Therefore, when Jesus says, “This is my body” he means that he is truly present in the eating. Calvin assures the reader that Christ has not fooled us when he said his body is present.

In another place Calvin writes that God will “nourish us throughout the course of our life.” And the sacrament is a “spiritual banquet, wherein Christ attests himself to be the life-giving bread, upon which our souls feed unto true and blessed immortality.” ⁴ His body is the life-giving bread. Calvin sees a divine banquet in an earthly table. There are many mistakes in interpreting Jesus’ words, but one thing is clear in Calvin: it is a reality. Simply put, the body of Christ is mysteriously present and those who partake by faith partake of Christ himself. Calvin rejected outright Zwingli’s view that the table served only as a memorial. Rather, the recipient had the assurance that the body of Christ would be spiritually present at the Holy Meal.

1. Transubstantiation is the change of the substance of bread and wine into that of the body and blood of Christ that, according to the belief of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church believes that the underlying reality was changed in accordance with what Jesus said, that the “substance” of the bread was converted to that of his body. [↩ back]
2. It is unmistakable that as one responds to the arguments of another, he is at that very moment making a case for his position. Nevertheless, it appears that Calvin spent too much time responding to opponents, while Luther spent much time exploring the text itself. This is certainly not to say that Luther did not have “choice” words to his opponents, but merely to point out that he dedicated more of his attention to his text. [↩ back]
3. Calvin, John. Harmony of the Evangelists, Vol. III. Baker Book House Company, Grand Rapids: MI, Reprinted 2003, pg. 209. [↩ back]
4. Calvin, John, Institutes of the Christian Religion, edited by J. T. McNeill, translated by Ford Lewis Battles, Library of Christian Classics, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960, pg. 1360. [↩ back]