{"agent_id":"calvin","agent_name":"Jean Calvin","slug":"the-lord-s-supper","label":"The Lord's Supper: in what sense is Christ present, if the elements are not changed and his body is not brought down?","topic":"The Lord's Supper","question":"In what sense is Christ present, if the elements are not changed and his body is not brought down?","position":"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.","paragraphs":[[{"t":"Truly present and truly received, but by the Spirit rather than by locality.","n":[]},{"t":"The believer is raised to where Christ is; Christ is not enclosed in bread.","n":[1,2,3,4]}]],"texts":"*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. Reception: Westphal and the Gnesio-Lutheran attacks of the 1550s; the modern judgement that the position is unstable between Luther and Zwingli.","works":["*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"],"reception":"Westphal and the Gnesio-Lutheran attacks of the 1550s; the modern judgement that the position is unstable between Luther and Zwingli.","status":"A genuine third position, attacked from both sides, and frequently reported as a compromise rather than as a doctrine.","era":"1509-1564","discipline":"Theology","refs":[{"n":1,"work":"Tracts Relating to the Reformation Vol 2","page":"","canonical":"","quote":"For I hold that Christ is not present in the Supper in any other way than this — be cause the minds of believers (this being an heavenly act) arc 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. IN ANSWKK To THE CALl'MNIES o?","label":"Tracts Relating to the Reformation Vol 2"},{"n":2,"work":"Institutes of the Christian Religion Vol 2","page":"","canonical":"","quote":"For, if we behold the sun darting his rays and transmitting his substance, as it were, in them, to generate, nourish, and mature the roots of the earth, why should the irradiation of the Spirit of Christ be less effectual to convey to us the communication of his body and blood? Wherefore, the Scripture, when it speaks of our participation of Christ, attributes all the power of it to the Spirit.","label":"Institutes of the Christian Religion Vol 2"},{"n":3,"work":"Tracts Relating to the Reformation Vol 2","page":"","canonical":"","quote":"But if he means, that Christ is placed there in a corporeal manner, let him seek other supporters. We do not shelter ourselves under the ambiguity of the term physical, for we object no less decidedly to a fictitious ubiquity than to a mathematical circumscription under the bread.","label":"Tracts Relating to the Reformation Vol 2"},{"n":4,"work":"Tracts Relating to the Reformation Vol 3","page":"","canonical":"","quote":"Moreover, as nothing is done there that is not heavenly, though it be done on earth, if we would prepare ourselves for receiving with benefit, our minds must be raised higher than the earth and the world. Then, while Christ is seated in heavenly glory, any one who turns in a different direction to adore him departs from him.","label":"Tracts Relating to the Reformation Vol 3"}],"answer":null,"siblings":[{"slug":"double-predestination","label":"Double predestination: does God eternally decree the reprobation of some as well as the election of others?"},{"slug":"the-sensus-divinitatis","label":"The sensus divinitatis: is there a natural knowledge of God, and if so what does it accomplish?"}]}