Development in John Calvins Doctrine of the Eucharist - Research Paper Example

Angeline Yunita THST 398 Prof. Matthew Pereirra May 2, Research Paper Development in John Calvin’s Doctrine of The Eucharist I. Introduction TheHoly Sacrament is among the most controversial issues ever discussed in ecclesiastical debates. These battles over the doctrine of the Eucharist have existed since the medieval period. However, the debates became more heated and controversial in the European Reformation of the 16th century.John Calvin, Martin Luther and HuldrychZwingli were three key reformers involved in the debates on the Eucharist. This paper explores the teachings of John Calvin on the Eucharist, especially in his writings such as the Institutes. The role played by Calvin in the Reformation movement became more apparent and pronounced after the excommunication of Luther with whose works he debated on ecclesiastical issues1. Thereafter, Calvin’s works, writings and doctrines would become quite useful and influential in establishing consensus among various Reformation groups not only in Switzerland, Scotland, Hungary and Germany but also across the expanse of Europe and other far off lands. A. Calvins Life and Works Born on 10 July 1509, John Calvin, a French cleric and doctor of law, was a key figure in the second generation of reformers. He not only published the theological tome, the Institutes of the Christian Religion, in 1536 but also played an influential role in the development of the system of Christian theology, which would later be renamed Calvinism.2 Calvin became a leading figure in the Reformed church in Geneva, which was the presumed headquarters of Reformed Christianity in the latter parts of the 16th century. Together with other elders, Calvin worked with pastors and elders to ensure that religious discipline reigned among the Genevan populace. An area for which Calvin’s theology is widely read and known are his doctrines of (double) predestination and the Sacrament.3 Although predestination was not the overriding idea in Calvins works, it later became a key issue, more so for most of his Reformation students andsuccessors.After Zwingli’s death on 11 October 1531, Calvin took over the mantle of spiritual leadership among the reformers. B. Controversies on the Eucharist The doctrine of theLord’s Supper was surrounded with divergent opinions, contentions, disputes and controversies from the medieval period up to modern times. The Eucharist is viewed differentlyby different cultures and people .4For instance, some people believe thatthe Eucharist is a grace through which sins are forgiven.In the Catholic tradition, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) asserts that, “by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood.”5In the Orthodox Church, Eucharist is considereda sacrificial gesture. However, the Orthodox does not explain how the bread and wine change to the body and blood of Jesus. To the Lutherans the Eucharist symbolizes the sacramental union of the bread and wine with the body and blood of Christ, implying that the body and blood of Christ are present in and with the form of bread and wine.6 As for the Reformed and Presbyterian, their perception is similar to that of John Calvin; that Christ is not present in the elements literally but spiritually.7 Those holding to this perception also “do not deny that god himself is present in his intuition by the very-present power of his spirit.”8 C. Development in Calvin’s Doctrine of the Eucharist Perhaps, the main causes of these disputes are the myriad errors the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper has been subjected to. According to John Calvin, it is the weakness of humanity’s conscience that has made it impossible for people to take a stance on or view of the idea of the holy sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.9 Hence, people have remained perplexed and doubtful about the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Considering the importance of the sacrament of the Supper of the Lord as an ordinance in the Christian faith, Calvin set out to clearly summarise the core elements of the sacrament so that people understand it. In this explanation, Calvin was also propelled by the fact that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is a prerequisite for the salvation of a Christian.10 Notably, debate continued to rage on whether Calvin’s perceptions and doctrine of the Eucharist was developed and evolved over a period of ecclesiastical debate or not. This paper adopts the stance that Calvin’s doctrine of the Eucharist was worked out and evolved over a period of ongoing ecclesiastical debate. To establish this stance, the paper introduces John Calvin’s doctrine of the Eucharist and explains how Calvin’s doctrine of the Eucharist was developed in contests with his Lutheran counterparts. Actually, Calvin’s perceptions and doctrines on the Eucharist developed over the second reformation period, as evidenced by the debates he engaged in with other second-generation reformers. In addition, he compared his doctrines with those of first generation reformers such as Martin Luther. The prolonged ecclesiastical debates he engaged are recorded in works, including the 1541 Institutes, the 1559 Institutes and the Consensus Tigurinus, which were published in different periods. II. Three Stages of Development in Calvins doctrine of the Eucharist A. The 1541 Institutes The 1541 Institutes is among the key works of Calvin, on which his teachings and beliefs are relayed to his audience. The foundation on which Calvin bases his teachings on the Eucharist is that “whenever a religious person notices a symbol put in place by God, it is of the essence to observe, feel, think and be persuaded that the thing signified by the symbol is true and exists.11 The same approach should thus be taken for the case of the sacrament in the Lord’s Supper. Otherwise, by the bread and wine, the Lord symbolizes the real partaking of his blood and body.12 Thus, based on the foundational statement that religious people ought to believe in the existence of the reality represented by the sacrament, the faithful partaking of the sacrament must be assured that the elementsgiven in the form of bread and wine seal the undetectable gift of Christ’s body and blood.13 Calvin’s perceptions on the Eucharist have been compared and contrasted with many views on the same subject with some conforming to his views while others adopting entirely divergent opinions.14 B. The 1559 Institutes John Calvin’s doctrines and ideas either differed or agreed with Luther’s doctrines. For instance, Luther and Calvin seemed to have similar doctrines on soteriology, an assertion that is vehemently denied by a huge proportion of Lutherans. A key contentious issue raised by many Lutherans is the difference in the reformers’ doctrines on the sacraments. Some Lutherans assert that since Calvin’s and Luther’s views on the sacrament are not similar, then their soteriologies cannot be alike.Second, Calvin’s and Luther’s doctrines and writings on salvation are similar. These commonalities between Luther’s and Calvin’s writings and doctrines are largely attributed to the fact that both reformers were dependent on Augustinian soteriology. What is more, Calvin also depended on Luther to some extent. This dependence is evident in Calvin borrowing extensively from Luther’s Short Catechism in the first edition of the Institutes. Given this dependence, it is inevitable that the two reformers become similar in some aspects of their doctrines and writings.15 However, Calvin revised the Institutes several times. While the first edition was meant to be a catechism for French Protestants and mainly dealt with the law, the Apostles Creed, the Lords Prayer, the sacraments, false sacraments, and Christian liberty. The third, fourth and fifth editions were expanded as his ideas grew. The final edition differed fundamentally from the original 1536 edition since it was no longer a mere manual for new believers. It was a thorough systematic theology comprising four volumes dealing more with Christian doctrines. In connection to these teachings on the Eucharist, Calvin authored the 1559 Institutes. Hence, his views of the Lord’s Supper must be studied and understood in the context of the 16thcentury. In addition, Calvin’s doctrine on the Eucharist developed in contests with other renowned leading reformers such as Roman, Lutheran and Zwinglian perceptions.16 For instance, Rome had the view that after the consecration of the bread and wine, Jesus Christ becomes truly and substantially contained under the species of those sensible things.17 The reason for this perception is that the substance of bread is converted wholly into the substance of the body of Christ while the entire substance of the wine is converted into the substance of His blood. According to the Catholic tradition, although a person looks at and perceives the bread with its sensory aspects remaining intact, the substance of the bread changes into the substance of Christ’s body as the bread is chewed. “Due to the substantial change, it is right to ‘render in reverence the worship of latria, which is due to the true God, to this holy sacrament”18. To Rome, the Mass is sacrifice. Thus, it is truly propitiatory because the victim is one and the same. As opposed to Rome, Luther rejected the notion that the Mass is sacrifice. The 1559 Institutes was the other key work by Calvin on the Eucharist. In this work, he covered the five sacraments of Rome he considered false. Although he did not treat the Roman mass as a false sacrament, he considered it a corrupted form of the legitimate sacrament. In this work, Calvin covered the issue of the sacrament by discussing the Lord’s Supper.In the 1559 Institutes, Calvin asserts that it is through the Mass that the Christ’s Supper profaned but alsoannihilated by Rome.19 By describing the Roman Mass in these terms, Calvin must have been rather bold since he should have been persecuted for such an insinuation. He associated the mass with impiety, blasphemy, idolatry, and sacrilege. In the 1559Institutes, Calvin interacts with quite many arguments put forward by the Roman Churchin supporting the Mass as a sacrament. For instance, he opposes the assertion by Rome that Melchizedek’s bringing of bread and wine to Abraham in Genesis 14 anticipates and rationalizes the sacrifice of the Mass.20 C. Consensus Tigurinus 1. Background of Consensus Tigurinus Consensus Tigurinus was a response to the ongoing debates between Luther, Zwingly, and others on the doctrine of the Eucharist. As soon as reformation emerged in Europe, especially in Germany, it spread to other parts, under different leaders. In fact, other reform movements emerged independent of the one in Germany, spearheaded by Luther. For instance, in Zurich, Huldrych Zwingli built a Christian theocracy where the church and state joined for the service of God. Although Zwingli agreed with Luther on some aspects of Christianity such as the doctrine of justification by faith, he took a more radical stance on the issue of the Eucharist. Luther rejected the Catholic Churchs doctrine of transubstantiation, which asserted that the bread and wine in the Eucharist were the actual body and blood of Christ. Instead, he believed the body of Christ was physically present in the elements since Christ is present everywhere.21 However, Zwingli claimed that the Eucharist was simply a memorial of the death of Christ and a declaration of faith by those who received it.22 The differences in doctrines, views, perceptions and notions on the Holy Sacrament highlighted the need to reach a consensus among the leaders of Reformation. This situation led to the establishment of the Consensus Tigurinus or Consensus of Zurich. This consensus was a document developed with the objective of unifying the Protestant churches on the basis of their doctrines of the Sacraments, especially the Lords Supper. Given his stance between the Lutheran view of Real Presence and the Zwinglian view of pure symbolism, was mandated to write the first draft of the document in November 1548. 2. Draft of Text of the Consensus Tigurinus The key teachings of this first draft of Consensus Tigurinus asserted “the Sacraments were in and of themselves not quite effective and could not confer grace”.23 Rather, God, working with through the Holy Spirit, acts through the Sacraments.24 The second important teaching of the draft by Calvin was that the internal effects of the Sacrament manifest only in the elect. Third, the draft emphasised that the benefits of the Sacraments include leading the people to Christ as well as their being instruments of God’s grace.25 The Consensus also taught that the Lords Supper entails eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ. However, this eating and drinking do not imply by means of a carnal presence of Christs human nature. Instead, the eating and drinking is by the power of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual elevation of the human soul to heaven. The document sought to combine the Calvinist and the Zwinglian doctrines and oppose transubstantiation view of the Roman Catholic and sacramental union view of the Lutherans. When Calvin sent the document to the Swiss churches, the Synod at Berne opposed Calvins view strongly.26 However, the churches in Zurich, Geneva, Saint Gall, Schaffhausen, the Grisons, Neuchâtel, and eventually Basel accepted the document. Later in May 1549, Calvin, William Farel and Bullinger met in Zurich and revised the document into its final form. The final draft was later published in Zurich and Geneva in 1551. From the issues that arose and led to the Consensus Tigurinus, it is evident that Martin Luther believed that Christ cannot be sacrificed over and above the one time he sacrificed himself. In fact, the supposed daily sacrificing of Christ is perhaps the greatest blasphemy and abomination ever to happen on earth. Luther also rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation. Nonetheless, Luther insisted that Christ was bodily, albeit invisibly, present in the bread and wine. He thus disagreed with Rome over the mode of the presence of Christ in the holy sacrament. At the Lord’s Supper therefore, Luther believes that Christ is as close to the partakers physically as he was to those who were present during his times on earth. Luther hence believed in both the spiritual and physical eating.27 However, Luther never believed that this physical eating of Christ’s body was sufficient; instead, faith is vital. Without faith, the physical eating is deadly.28 Luther thus emphasized the need to keep the word and sacrament together since faith comes through hearing the Word of God. As his work and perceptions of the Eucharist developed, Luther would later develop the doctrine of ubiquity to explain how the exalted Christ can be at God’s right hand and locally present in the Supper at the same time.29 This doctrine would help in explaining the Sacrament against the views of Rome and Zwingli. He made it understood that the right hand of God is not a specific physical place in which a body must such as a golden throne, but is the almighty power of God, which can be nowhere and yet must be everywhere.30Zwingli who viewed Luther’s Christology as fundamentally Eutychian, portraying and fusing Christ’s divine and human natures opposed Luther’s views. He thus rejected the ubiquity of Christ’s humanity.31 2. Conclusion Calvin believed that the Lord’s Supper was a key theological issue. Notably, he developed his theology, theories and doctrines over a period marked by extensive ecclesiastical debate among the reformers. Calvin’s theories on Eucharist developed over a long period during which he engaged in ecclesiastical debate with his peers is evidenced by his works, which he authored over this period. These works include the 1541 Institutes, the 1559 Institutes and the Consensus Tigurinus. Martin Luther and Zwingli are among the debaters with whom John Calvin engaged in contests on various aspects of Christianity. In particular, Calvin and followers of Zwingli had heated and far-reaching debates on the issue of the Lord’s Supper, doctrines that continue to affect the perceptions, beliefs and practices of modern Protestant Churches. Although Calvinist views slightly differ from that of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Protestant churches, they developed to be more similar in a large extent to the views of Zwingli’s adherents. In the 1541 Institutes, Calvin’s main argument is that whenever a religious individual or group notices a symbol put in place by God, they should be persuaded to observe, feel and think the thing symbolized is true and exists. In the 1559 Institutes, Calvin mainly opposes the perceptions of the Roman Church on Eucharist. Due to the need for consensus on Eucharist in the ecclesiastical debates, the Consensus Tigurinus was signed. Bibliography Primary Sources: Huldrych Zwingli, On the Lord’s Supper’ Zwingli and Bullinger G. W. Bromileytranslator.The Library of Christian Classics volume XXIV (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953 [1526]), 186. John Calvin,Institutes of the Christian Religion John T. McNeill editor. Ford Lewis Battles translator.Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960 [1559]) IV.xvii.44, 46. John Calvin,Institutes of the Christian religion: 1541 French edition. Translated by Elsie Anne Mckee(Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 775. Philip Schaff, The Consensus of Zurich. A.D. 1549. Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes I. p. 472. Secondary sources: Carl Trueman, The Incarnation and the Lord’s Supper’ ‘The Word Became Flesh’: Evangelicals and the Incarnation. David Peterson editor (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003): 185-208. Keith A Mathison, Given for You: Reclaiming Calvin’s Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper (Phillipsburg NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2002), 5. Thomas J. Davis, This Is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought (Baker Academic, 2008) 1-224. Read More