The Lord's Supper: in what sense is Christ present, if the elements are not changed and his body is not brought down?

Jean Calvin, answered from the texts and cited to the page.

The position in brief

Truly present and truly received, but by the Spirit rather than by locality. The believer is raised to where Christ is; Christ is not enclosed in bread.1234

Sources

  1. For I hold that Christ is not present in the Supper in any other way than this — because the minds of believers (this being an heavenly act) are raised by faith above the world, and Christ, by the agency of his Spirit, removing the obstacle which distance of space might occasion, conjoins us with his members. Westphal objects that the merits or benefits of Christ are not his body.
    Tracts Relating to the Reformation Vol 2, p. 281
  2. XXXI. They are exceedingly deceived, who cannot conceive of any presence of the flesh of Christ in the supper, except it be attached to the bread. For on this principle they leave nothing to the secret operation of the Spirit, which unites 562 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV US to Christ.
    Institutes of the Christian Religion Vol 2, p. 562
  3. I say that distance of place is no obstacle to prevent the flesh, which was once crucified, from being given to us for food. Heshusius supposes, what is far from being the fact, that I imagine a presence of deity only.
    Tracts Relating to the Reformation Vol 2, p. 555
  4. Some imagine that Christ's body is infinite, and is not confined to any one space, but fills heaven and earth, (Jer. xxiii. 24,) like his Divine essence. This fancy is too absurd to require refutation. The Schoolmen dispute with more refinement as to his glorious body. Their whole doctrine, however, reduces itself to this—that Christ is to be sought after in the bread, as if he were included in it.
    Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians Vol 1, pp. 380–381

Where the argument is made

  • Institutes IV.xvii
  • Short Treatise on the Holy Supper of Our Lord (1541) and the eucharistic tracts in Tracts Relating to the Reformation vols II–III
  • the Consensus Tigurinus (1549) with Bullinger

How the argument was received

A genuine third position, attacked from both sides, and frequently reported as a compromise rather than as a doctrine.