§ 117. THE lokd's supper. 691
but understood them spiritually and dynamically. He confined the participation of the body and blood of Christ to believers, since faith is the only means of communion with Christ ; while Luther extended it to all communicants, only with opposite effects.
The following is a brief summary of his vieAV from the last edition of the Institutes (1569) : —
After receiving us into his family by baptism, God undertakes to sustain and to nourish us as long as we live, and gives us a pledge of his gracious intention in the sacrament of the holy communion. This is a spiritual banquet, in which Christ testifies himself to be the bread of life, to feed our souls for a true and blessed immortality. The signs of bread and wine represent to us the invisible nourishment which we receive from the body and blood of Christ. They are exhibited in a figure and image, adapted to our feeble capacity, and rendered certain by visible tokens and pledges, which the dullest minds can understand. This mystical benediction, then, is designed to assure us that the body of the Lord was once offered as a sacrifice for us upon whicli we may now feed, and that his blood was once shed for us and is our perpetual drink. '' His flesh is true meat, and his blood is true drink" (John 6:66). "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones " (Eph. 6 : 30). " This is a great mystery " (ver. 32), which can be admired rather than expressed. Our souls are fed by the flesh and blood of Christ, just as our corporal life is preserved and sustained by bread and wine. Otherwise there would be no propriety in the analogy of the sign. The breaking of the bread is indeed symbolical, yet significant; for God is not a deceiver who sets before us an empty sign. The symbol of the body assures us of the donation of the invisible substance, so that in receiving the sign we receive the thing itself. The thing signified is exhibited and offered to all who come to that spiritual banquet, but it is advantageously enjoyed only by. those who receive it with true faith and gratitude.
592 THE REFORMATION IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND.
Calvin lays great stress on the supernatural agency of the Holy Spirit in the communion. This was ignored by Luther and Zwingli. The Spirit raises our hearts from earth to heaven, as he does in every act of devotion {sursum corda)^ and he brings down the life-giving power of the exalted Redeemer in heaven, and thus unites what is, according to our imperfect notions, separated by local distance.^ The medium of communication is faith. Calvin might have sustained his view by the old liturgies of the Oriental Church, which have a special prayer invoking tlie Holy Spirit at the consecration of the eucharistic elements.^
He quotes several passages from Augustin in favor of the spiritual real presence. Ratramnus in the ninth, and Berengar in the eleventh, century had likewise appealed to Augustin against the advocates of a carnal presence and participation.^
When Luther reopened the eucharistic controversy by a fierce attack upon the Zvvinglians (1545), who defended their martyred Reformer in a sharp reply, Calvin was displeased with both parties, and labored to bring about a reconciliation.* He corresponded with Bullinger (the Melanchthon of the Swiss Church), and, on his invitation, he went to Ziirich with Farel (May, 1549). The delicate negotiations were carried on by both parties with admirable frankness, moderation, wisdom, and patience. The result was the "• Consensus Tigurinus," in which Calvin states his doctrine as nearly as possible in agreement with Zwingli. This document was published in 1551, and adopted by all the Reformed Cantons, except Bern, which cherished a strong dislike to Calvin's rigorism. It was also favorably received in France, England, and in parts of Germany. Melanchthon declared
1 See the passages quoted in vol. VI. 679, note 1.
- The ^TTi/cArjcris irvev/xaTo^ ayiov. The Latin liturgies ascribe the power of consecration to Christ's words of institution. See vol. III. 513.
3 See vol. IV. 549 sqq. and 564 sqq. Calvin refers to the Berengar controversy.
* See his letter to Bullinger, quoted in vol. VI. 661.