In which is shown its
true institution, benefit, and utility. MDXL

John Calvin

1. REASON WHY MANY WEAK
CONSCIENCES REMAIN IN SUSPENSE
AS TO THE TRUE DOCTRINE OF THE
SUPPER.

As the holy sacrament of the Supper of our Lord Jesus
Christ has long been the subject of several important errors, and in these
past years been anew enveloped in diverse opinions and contentious
disputes, it is no wonder if many weak consciences cannot fairly resolve
what view they ought to take of it, but remain in doubt and perplexity,
waiting till all contention being laid aside, the servants of God come to
some agreement upon it. However, as it is a very perilous thing to have no
certainty on an ordinance, the understanding of which is so requisite for
our salvation, I have thought it might be a very useful labour to treat
briefly and, nevertheless, clearly deduce a summary of what is necessary
to be known of it. I may add that I have been requested to do so by some
worthy persons, whom I could not refuse without neglecting my duty. In
order to rid ourselves of all difficulty, it is expedient to attend to the
order which I have determined to follow.

2. THE ORDER TO BE OBSERVED IN THIS
TREATISE.

First, then, we will
explain to what end and for what reason our Lord instituted this holy
sacrament.
Secondly, What fruit and
utility we receive from it, when it will likewise be shown how the body of
Jesus Christ is given to us.
Thirdly, What is the legitimate use of it.

Fourthly, We will detail the errors
and superstitions with which it has been contaminated, when it will be
shown how the servants of God ought to differ from the Papists.
Lastly, We will mention what has been the
source of the discussion which has been so keenly carried on, even among
those who have, in our time, brought back the light of the gospel, and
employed themselves in rightly edifying the Church in sound doctrine.

3. AT BAPTISM GOD RECEIVES US INTO
HIS CHURCH
AS MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY.

In regard to the first article—Since it has pleased our
good God to receive us by baptism into his Church, which is his house,
which he desires to maintain and govern, and since he has received us to
keep us not merely as domestics, but as his own children, it remains that,
in order to do the office of a good father, he nourish and provide us with
every thing necessary for our life. In regard to corporal nourishment, as
it is common to all, and the bad share in it as well as the good, it is
not peculiar to his family. It is very true that we have an evidence of
his paternal goodness in maintaining our bodies, seeing that we partake in
all the good things which he gives us with his blessing. But as the life
into which he has begotten us again is spiritual, so must the food, in
order to preserve and strengthen us, be spiritual also. For we should
understand, that not only has he called us one day to possess his heavenly
inheritance, but that by hope he has already in some measure installed us
in possession; that not only has he promised us life, but already
transported us into it, delivering us from death, when by adopting us as
his children, he begot us again by immortal seed, namely, his word
imprinted on our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

4. THE VIRTUE AND OFFICE OF THE
WORD OF GOD
IN REGARD TO OUR SOULS.

To maintain us in this spiritual life, the thing
requisite is not to feed our bodies with fading and corruptible food, but
to nourish our souls on the best and most precious diet. Now all Scripture
tells us, that the spiritual food by which our souls are maintained is
that same word by which the Lord has regenerated us; but it frequently
adds the reason, viz., that in it Jesus Christ, our only life, is given
and administered to us. For we must not imagine that there is life any
where than in God. But just as God has placed all fulness of life in
Jesus, in order to communicate it to us by his means, so he ordained his
word as the instrument by which Jesus Christ, with all his graces, is
dispensed to us. Still it always remains true, that our souls have no
other pasture than Jesus Christ. Our heavenly Father, therefore, in his
care to nourish us, gives us no other, but rather recommends us to take
our fill there, as a refreshment amply sufficient, with which we cannot
dispense, and beyond which no other can be found.

5. JESUS CHRIST THE ONLY SPIRITUAL
NOURISHMENT OF OUR SOULS.

We have already seen that Jesus Christ is the only food
by which our souls are nourished; but as it is distributed to us by the
word of the Lord, which lie has appointed an instrument for that purpose,
that word is also called bread and water. Now what is said of the word
applies as well to the sacrament of the Supper, by means of which the Lord
leads us to communion with Jesus Christ. For seeing we are so weak that we
cannot receive him with true heartfelt trust, when he is presented to us
by simple doctrine and preaching, the Father of mercy, disdaining not to
condescend in this matter to our infirmity, has been pleased to add to his
word a visible sign, by which he might represent the substance of his
promises, to confirm and fortify us by delivering us from all doubt and
uncertainty. Since, then, there is something so mysterious and
incomprehensible in saying that we have communion with the body and the
blood of Jesus Christ, and we on our part are so rude and gross that we
cannot understand the least things of God, it was of importance that we
should be given to understand it as far as our capacity could admit.

6. THE CAUSE WHY OUR LORD
INSTITUTED THE SUPPER.

Our Lord, therefore, instituted the Supper, first, in
order to sign and seal in our consciences the promises contained in his
gospel concerning our being made partakers of his body and blood, and to
give us certainty and assurance that therein lies our trio spiritual
nourishment, and that having such an earnest, we may entertain a right
reliance on salvation. Secondly, in order to exercise us in recognising
his great goodness toward us, and thus lead us to laud and magnify him
more fully. Thirdly, in order to exhort us to all holiness and innocence,
inasmuch as we are members of Jesus Christ; and specially to exhort us to
union and brotherly charity, as we are expressly commanded. When we shall
have well considered these three reasons, to which the Lord had respect in
ordaining his Supper, we shall be able to understand, both what benefit
accrues to us from it, and what is our duty in order to use it.
properly.

7. THE MEANS
OF KNOWING THE GREAT BENEFIT OF THE
SUPPER.

It is now time to come to the second point, viz., to show
how the Lord's Supper is profitable to us, provided we use it profitably.
Now we shall know its utility by reflecting on the indigence which it is
meant to succour. We must necessarily be under great trouble and torment
of conscience, when we consider who we are, and examine what iS in us. For
not one of us can find one particle of righteousness in himself, but on
the contrary we are all full of sins and iniquities, so much so that no
other party is required to accuse us than our own conscience, no other
judge to condemn us. It follows that the wrath of God is kindled against
us, and that none can escape eternal death. If we are not asleep and
stupified, this horrible thought must be a kind of perpetual hell to vex
and torment us. For the judgment of God cannot come into our remembrance
without letting us see that our condemnation follows as a consequence.

8. THE MISERY OF
MAN.

We are then already in the gulf, if God does not in mercy
draw us out of it. Moreover, what hope of resurrection can we have while
considering our flesh, which is only rottenness and corruption? Thus in
regard to the soul, as well as the body, we are more than miserable if we
remain within ourselves, and this misery cannot but produce great sadness
and anguish of soul. Now our heavenly Father, to succour us in this, gives
us the Supper as a mirror, in which we may contemplate our Lord Jesus
Christ, crucified to take away our faults and offences, and raised again
to deliver us from corruption and death, restoring us to a celestial
immortality.

9. THE SUPPER INVITES US TO THE
PROMISES OF SALVATION.

Here, then, is the singular consolation which we derive
from the Supper. It directs and leads us to the cross of Jesus Christ and
to his resurrection, to certify us that whatever iniquity there may be in
us, the Lord nevertheless recognises and accepts us as righteous—whatever
materials of death may be in us, he nevertheless gives us life— whatever
misery. may be in us, he nevertheless fills us with all felicity. Or to
explain the matter more simply—as in ourselves we are devoid of all good,
and have not one particle of what might help to procure salvation, the
Supper is an attestation that, having been made partakers of the death and
passion of Jesus Christ, we have every thing that is useful and salutary
to us.

10. ALL THE TREASURES OF SPIRITUAL
GRACE
PRESENTED IN THE SUPPER.

We can therefore say, that in it the Lord displays to us
all the treasures of his spiritual grace, inasmuch as he associates us in
all the blessings and riches of our Lord Jesus. Let us recollect, then,
that the Supper is given us as a mirror in which we may contemplate Jesus
Christ crucified in order to deliver us from condemnation, and raised
again in. order to procure for us righteousness and eternal life. It is
indeed true that this same grace is offered us by the gospel, yet as in
the Supper we have more ample certainty, and fuller enjoyment of it, with
good cause do we recognise this fruit as coming from it.

11. JESUS CHRIST IS THE SUBSTANCE
OF THE SACRAMENTS.

But as the blessings of Jesus Christ do not belong to us
at all, unless he be previously ours, it is necessary, first of all, that
he be given us in the Supper, in order that the things which we have
mentioned may be truly accomplished in us. For this reason I am wont to
say, that the substance of the sacraments is the Lord Jesus, and the
efficacy of them the graces and blessings which we have by his means. Now
the efficacy of the Supper is to confirm to us the reconciliation which we
have with God through our Saviour's death and passion; the washing of our
souls which we have in the shedding of his blood; the righteousness which
we have in his obedience; in short, the hope of salvation which we have in
all' that he has done for us. It is necessary, then, that the substance
should be conjoined with these, otherwise nothing would be firm or
certain. Hence we conclude that two things are presented to us in the
Supper, viz., Jesus Christ as the source and substance of all good; and,
secondly, the fruit and efficacy of his death and passion. This is implied
in the words which were used. For after commanding us to eat his body and
drink his blood, he adds that his body was delivered for us, and his blood
shed for the remission of our sins. Hereby he intimates, first, that we
ought not simply to communicate in his body and blood, without any other
consideration, but in order to receive the fruit derived to us from his
death and passion; secondly, that we can attain the enjoyment of such
fruit only by participating in his body and blood, from which it is
derived.

12. HOW THE BREAD IS CALLED THE
BODY,
AND THE WINE THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.

We begin now to enter on the question so much debated,
both anciently and at the present time—how we are to understand the words
in which the `bread is called the body of Christ, and the wine his blood.
This may be disposed of without much difficulty, if we carefully observe
the principle which I lately laid down, viz., that all the benefit which
we should seek in the Supper is annihilated if Jesus Christ be not there
given to us as the substance and foundation of all. That being fixed, we
will confess, without doubt, that to deny that a true communication of
Jesus Christ is presented to us in the Supper, is to render this holy
sacrament frivolous and useless—an execrable blasphemy unfit to be
listened to.

13. WHAT IS REQUISITE IN ORDER TO
LIVE IN JESUS CHRIST.

Moreover, if the reason for communicating with Jesus
Christ is to have part and portion in all the graces which he purchased
for us by his death, the thing requisite must be not only to be partakers
of his Spirit, but also to participate in his humanity, in which he
rendered all obedience to God his Father, in order to satisfy our debts,
although, properly speaking, the one cannot be without the other; for when
he gives himself to us, it is in order that we may possess him entirely.
Hence, as it is said that his Spirit is our life, so he himself, with his
own lips, declares that his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood drink
indeed. (John vi. 55.) If these
words are not to go for nothing, it follows that in order to have our life
in Christ our souls must feed on his body and blood as their proper food.
This, then, is expressly attested in the Supper, when of the bread it is
said to us that we are to take it and eat it, and that it is his body, and
of the cup that we are to drink it, and that it is his blood. This is
expressly spoken of the body and blood, in order that we may learn to seek
there the substance of our spiritual life.

14. HOW THE BREAD AND WINE ARE THE
BODY OF JESUS CHRIST.

Now, if it be asked whether the bread is the body of
Christ and the wine his blood, we answer, that the bread and the wine are
visible signs, which represent to us the body and blood, but that this
name and title of body and blood is given to them because they are as it
were instruments by which the Lord distributes them to us. This form and
manner of speaking is very appropriate. For as the communion which we have
with the body of Christ is a thing incomprehensible, not only to the eye
but to our natural sense, it is there visibly demonstrated to us. Of this
we have a striking example in an analogous case. Our Lord, wishing to give
a visible appearance to his Spirit at the baptism of Christ, presented him
under the form of a dove. St. John the Baptist, narrating the fact, says,
that he saw the Spirit of God descending. If we look more closely, we
shall find that he saw nothing but the dove, in respect that the Holy
Spirit is in his essence invisible. Still, knowing that this vision was
not an empty phantom, but a sure sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit,
he doubts not to say that he saw it, (John i. 32,) because it was
represented to him according to his capacity.

16. THE SACRAMENT IS REPRESENTED BY
VISIBLE SIGNS.

Thus it is with the communion which we have in. the body
and blood of the Lord Jesus. It is a spiritual mystery which can neither
be seen by the eye nor comprehended by the human understanding. It is
therefore figured to us by visible signs, according as our weakness
requires, in such manner, nevertheless, that it is not a bare figure but
is combined with the reality and substance. It is with good reason then
that the bread is called the body, since it not only represents but also
presents it to us. Hence we indeed infer that the name of the body of
Jesus Christ is transferred to the bread, inasmuch as it is the sacrament
and figure of it. But we likewise add, that the sacraments of the Lord
should not and cannot be at all separated from their reality and
substance. To distinguish, in order to guard against confounding them, is
not only good and reasonable, but altogether necessary; but to divide
them, so as to make the one exist without the other, is absurd.

16. THE PROPER BODY AND BLOOD OF
JESUS CHRIST
RECEIVED ONLY BY FAITH.

Hence when we see the visible sign we must consider what
it represents, and by whom it has been given us. The bread is given us to
figure the body of Jesus Christ, with command to eat it, and it is given
us of God, who is certain and immutable truth. If God cannot deceive or
lie, it follows that it accomplishes all which it signifies. We must then
truly receive in the Supper the body and blood of Jesus Christ, since the
Lord there represents to us the communion of both. Were it otherwise, what
could be meant by saying, that we eat the bread and drink the wine as a
sign that his body is our meat and his blood our drink? If he gaveus only
bread and wine, leaving the spiritual reality behind, would it not be
under false colours that this ordinance' had been instituted?

17. THE INTERNAL SUBSTANCE IS
CONJOINED
WITH THE VISIBLE SIGNS.

We must confess, then, that if the representation which
God gives us in the Supper is true, the internal substance of the
sacrament is conjoined with the visible signs; and as the bread is
distributed to us by the hand, so the body of Christ is communicated to us
in order that we may be made partakers of it. Though there should be
nothing more, we have good cause to be satisfied, when we understand that
Jesus Christ gives us in the Supper the proper substance of his body and
blood, in order that we may possess it fully, and possessing it have part
in all his blessings. For seeing we have him, all the riches of God which
are comprehended in him are exhibited to us, in order that they may be
ours. Thus, as a brief definition of this utility of the Supper, we may
say, that Jesus Christ is there offered to us in order that we may possess
him, and in him all the fulness of grace which we can desire, and that
herein we have a good aid to confirm our consciences in the faith which we
ought to have in him.

18. IN THE SUPPER WE ARE REMINDED

OF OUR DUTY TOWARDS GOD.

The second benefit of the Supper is, that it admonishes
and incites us more strongly to recognise the blessings which we have
received, and receive daily from the Lord Jesus, in order that we may
ascribe to him the praise which is due. For in ourselves we are so
negligent that we rarely think of the goodness of God, if he do not arouse
us from our indolence, and urge us to our duty. Now there cannot be a spur
which can pierce us more to the quick than when he makes us, so to speak,
see with the eye, touch with the hand, and distinctly perceive this
inestimable blessing of feeding on his own substance. This he means to
intimate when he commands us to show forth his death till he come. (1 Cor.
xi. 26.) If it is then so essential to salvation not to overlook the gifts
which God has given us, but diligently to keep them in mind, and extol
them to others for mutual edification; we see another singular advantage
of the Supper in this, that it draws us off from ingratitude, and allows
us not to forget the benefit which our Lord Jesus bestowed upon us in
dying for us, but induces us to render him thanks, and, as it were,
publicly protest how much we are indebted to him.

19. THE SACRAMENT A STRONG
INDUCEMENT TO
HOLY LIVING AND BROTHERLY LOVE.

The third advantage of the Sacrament consists in
furnishing a most powerful incitement to live holily, and especially
observe charity and brotherly love toward all. For seeing we have been
made members of Jesus Christ, being incorporated into him, and united with
him as our head, it is most reasonable that we should become conformable
to him in purity and innocence, and especially that we should cultivate
charity and concord together as becomes members of the same body. But to
understand this advantage properly, we must not suppose that our Lord
warns, incites, and inflames our hearts by the external sign merely; for
the principal point is, that he operates in us inwardly by his Holy
Spirit, in order to give efficacy to his ordinance, which he has destined
for that purpose, as an instrument by which he wishes to do his work in
us. Wherefore, inasmuch as the virtue of the Holy Spirit is conjoined with
the sacraments when we duly receive them, we have reason to hope they will
prove a good mean and aid to make us grow and advance in holiness of life,
and specially in charity.

20. WHAT IT IS TO POLLUTE THE HOLY
SUPPER.
—THE GREAT GUILT OF SO DOING.

Let us come to the third point which we proposed at the
commencement of this treatise, viz., the legitimate use, which consists in
reverently observing our Lord's institution. Whoever approaches the
sacrament with contempt or indifference, not caring much about following
when the Lord calls him, perversely abuses, and in abusing pollutes it.
Now to pollute and contaminate what God has so highly sanctified, is
intolerable blasphemy. Not without cause then does St. Paul denounce such
heavy condemnation on all who take it unworthily. (1 Cor. xi. 29.) For if
there is nothing in heaven nor on earth of greater price and dignity than
the body and blood of the Lord, it is no slight fault to take it
inconsiderately and without being well prepared. Hence he exhorts us to
examine ourselves carefully, in order to make the proper use of it. When
we understand what this examination should be, we shall know the use after
which we are inquiring.

21. THE MANNER OF EXAMINING
OURSELVES.

Here it is necessary to be well on our guard. For as we
cannot be too diligent in examining ourselves as the Lord enjoins, so, on
the other hand, sophistical doctors have brought poor consciences into
perilous perplexity, or rather into a horrible Gehenna, requiring I know
not what examination, which it is not possible for any man to make. To rid
ourselves of all these perplexities, we must reduce the whole, as I have
already said, to the ordinance of the Lord, as the rule which, if we
follow it, will not allow us to err. In following it, we have to examine
whether we have true repentance in ourselves, and true faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ. These two things are so conjoined, that the one cannot
subsist without the other.

22. TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BLESSINGS
OF CHRIST,
WE MUST RENOUNCE ALL THAT IS OUR OWN.

If we consider our life to be placed in Christ, we must
acknowledge that we are dead in ourselves. If we seek our strength in him,
we must understand that in ourselves we are weak. If we think that all our
felicity is in his grace, we must understand how miserable we are without
it. If we have our rest in him, we must feel within ourselves only
disquietude and torment. Now such feelings cannot exist, without
producing, first, dissatisfaction with our whole life; secondly, anxiety
and fear; lastly, a desire and love of righteousness. For he who knows the
turpitude of his sin and the wretchedness of his state and condition while
alienated from God, is so ashamed that he is constrained to be
dissatisfied with himself, to condemn himself, to sigh and groan in great
sadness. Moreover, the justice of God immediately presents itself and
oppresses the wretched conscience with keen anguish, from not seeing any
means of escape, or having any thing to answer in defence. When under such
a conviction of our misery we get a taste of the goodness of God, it is
then we would wish to regulate our conduct by his will, and renounce all
our bygone life, in order to be made new creatures in him.

23. THE REQUISITES OF WORTHY
COMMUNION.

Hence if we would worthily communicate in the Lord's
Supper, we must with firm heartfelt reliance regard the Lord Jesus as our
only righteousness, life, and salvation, receiving and accepting the
promises which are given us by him as sure and certain, and renouncing all
other confidence, so that distrusting ourselves and all creatures, we may
rest fully in him, and be contented with his grace alone. Now as that
cannot be until we know how necessary it is that he come to our aid, it is
of importance to have a deep-seated conviction of our own misery, which
will make us hunger and thirst after him. And, in fact, what mockery would
it be to go in search of food when we have no appetite? Now to have a good
appetite it is not enough that the stomach be empty, it must also be in
good order and capable of receiving its food. Hence it follows that our
souls must pressed with famine and have a desire and ardent longing to be
fed, in order to find their proper nourishment in the Lord's Supper.

24. SELF-DENIAL
NECESSARY.

Moreover, it is to be observed that we cannot desire
Jesus Christ without aspiring to the righteousness of God, which consists
in renouncing ourselves and obeying his will. For it is preposterous to
pretend that we are of the body of Christ, while abandoning ourselves to
all licentiousness, and leading a dissolute life. Since in Christ is
nought but chastity, benignity, sobriety, truth, humility, and such like
virtues, if we would be his members, all uncleanness, intemperance,
falsehood, pride, and similar vices must be put from us. For we cannot
intermingle these things with him without offering him great dishonour and
insult. We ought always to remember that there is no more agreement
between him and iniquity than between light and darkness. If we would come
then to true repentance, we must endeavour to make our whole life
conformable to the example of Jesus Christ.

25. CHARITY ESPECIALLY
NECESSARY.

And while this must be general in every part of our life,
it must be specially so in respect of charity, which is, above all other
virtues, recommended to us in this sacrament: for which reason it is
called the bond of charity. For as the bread which is there sanctified for
the common use of all is composed of several grains so mixed together that
they cannot be distinguished from each other, so ought we to be united
together in indissoluble friendship. Moreover, we all receive there one
body of Christ. If then we have strife and discord among ourselves, it is
not owing to us that Christ Jesus is not rent in pieces, and we are
therefore guilty of sacrilege, as if we had done it. We must not, then, on
any' account, presume to approach if we bear hatred or rancour against any
man living, and especially any Christian who is in the unity of the
Church. In order fully to comply with our Lord's injunction, there is
another disposition which we must bring. It is to confess with the mouth
and testify how much we are indebted to our Saviour, and return him
thanks, not only that his name may be glorified in us, but also to edify
others, and instruct them, by our example, what they ought to do.

26. ALL MEN IMPERFECT AND
BLAMEWORTHY

But as not a man `will be found upon the earth who has
made such progress in faith and holiness, as not to be still very
defective in both, there might be a danger that several good consciences
`might be troubled by what has been said, did we not obviate it `by
tempering the injunctions which we have given in regard both to faith and
repentance. It is a perilous mode of teaching which some adopt, when they
require perfect reliance of heart and perfect penitence, and exclude all
who have them not. For in so doing they exclude all without excepting one.
Where is the man who can boast that he is not stained by some spot of
distrust? that he is not subject to some vice or infirmity? Assuredly the
faith which the children of God have is such that they have ever occasion
to pray,—Lord, help our unbelief. For it is a malady so rooted in our
nature, that we are never completely cured until we are delivered from the
prison of the body. Moreover, the purity of life in which they walk is
only such that they have occasion daily to pray, as well for remission of
sins as for grace to make greater progress. Although some are more and
others less imperfect, still there is none who does not fail in many
respects. Hence the Supper would be not only useless, but pernicious to
all, if it were necessary to bring a faith or integrity, as to which there
would be nothing to gainsay. This would be contrary to the intention of
our Lord, as there is nothing which he has given to his Church that is
more salutary.

27. IMPERFECTION MUST NOT MAKE US
CEASE
TO HOPE FOR SALVATION.

Therefore, although we feel our faith to be imperfect,
and our conscience not so pure that it does not accuse us of many vices,
that ought not to hinder us from presenting ourselves at the Lord's holy
table, provided that amid this infirmity we feel in our heart that without
hypocrisy and dissimulation we hope for salvation in Christ, and desire to
live according to the rule of the gospel. I say expressly, provided there
be no hypocrisy. For there are many who deceive themselves by vain
flattery, making themselves believe that it is enough if they condemn
their vices, though they continue to persist in them, or rather, if they
give them up for a time, to return to them immediately after. True
repentance is firm and constant, and makes us war with the evil that is in
us, not for a day or a week, but without end and without intermission.

28. THE IMPERFECTIONS OF BELIEVERS
SHOULD RATHER
INCLINE THEM TO USE THE SUPPER.

When we feel within ourselves a strong dislike and hatred
of all sin, proceeding from the fear of God, and a desire to live well in
order to please our Lord, we are fit to partake of the Supper,
notwithstanding of the remains of infirmity which we carry in our flesh.
Nay, if we were not weak, subject to distrust and an imperfect life, the
sacrament would be of no use to us, and it would have been superfluous to
institute it. Seeing, then, it is a remedy which God has given us to help
our weakness, to strengthen our faith, increase our charity, and advance
us in all holiness of life, the use becomes the more necessary the more we
feel pressed by the disease; so far ought that to be from making us
abstain. For if we allege as an excuse for not coming to the Supper, that
we are still weak in faith or integrity of life, it is as if a man were to
excuse himself from taking medicine because he was sick. See then how the
weakness of faith which we feel in our heart, and the imperfections which
are in our life, should admonish us to come to the Supper, as a special
remedy to correct them. Only let us not come devoid of faith and
repentance. The former is hidden in, the heart, and therefore conscience
must be its witness before God. The latter is manifested by works, and
must therefore be apparent in our life.

29. TIMES OF USING THE
SUPPER.—PROPRIETY OF
FREQUENT COMMUNION.

As to the time of using it, no certain rule can be
prescribed for all. For there are sometimes special circumstances which
excuse a man for abstaining; and, moreover, we have no express command to
constrain all Christians to use a specified day. However, if we duly
consider the end which our Lord has in view, we shall perceive that the
use should be more frequent than many make it: for the more infirmity
presses, the more necessary is it frequently to have recourse to what may
and will serve to confirm our faith, and advance us in purity of life;
and, therefore, the practice of all well ordered churches should be to
celebrate the Supper frequently, so far as the capacity of the people will
admit. And each individual in his own place should prepare himself to
receive whenever it is administered in the holy assembly, provided there
is not some great impediment which constrains him to abstain. Although we
have no express commandment specifying the time and the day, it should
suffice us to know the intention of our Lord to be, that we should use it
often, if we would fully experience the benefit which accrues from it.

30. IMPROPRIETY OF ABSTAINING ON
FRIVOLOUS GROUNDS.
—PRETENDED UNWORTHINESS IN OURSELVES.

The excuses alleged are very frivolous. Some say that
they do not feel themselves to be worthy, and, under this pretext, abstain
for a whole year. Others, not contented with looking to their own
unworthiness, pretend that they cannot communicate with persons whom they
see coming without being duly prepared. Some also think that it is
superfluous to use it frequently, because if we have once received Jesus
Christ, there is no occasion to return so often after to receive him. I
ask the first who make a cloak of their unworthiness, how their conscience
can allow them to remain more than a year in so poor a state, that they
dare not invoke God directly? They will acknowledge that it is presumption
to invoke God as our Father, if we are not members of Jesus Christ. This
we cannot be, without having the reality and substance of the Supper
accomplished in us. Now, if we have the reality, we are by stronger reason
capable of receiving the sign. We see then that he who would exempt
himself from receiving the Supper on account of unworthiness, must hold
himself unfit to pray to God. I mean not to force consciences which are
tormented with certain scruples which suggest themselves, they scarcely
know how, but counsel them to wait till the Lord deliver them. Likewise,
if there is a legitimate cause of hindrance, I deny not that it is lawful
to delay. Only I wish to show that no one ought long to rest satisfied
with abstaining on the ground of unworthiness, seeing that in so doing he
deprives himself of the communion of the Church, in which all our
wellbeing consists. Let him rather contend against all the impediments
which the devil throws in his way, and not be excluded from so great a
benefit, and from all the graces consequent thereupon.

31. ABSTAINING BECAUSE OF PRETENDED

UNWORTHINESS IN OTHERS.

The second class have some plausibility. The argument
they use is, that it is not lawful to eat common bread with those who call
themselves brethren, and lead a dissolute life— a fortiori, we must abstain
from communicating with them in the Lord's bread, which is sanctified in
order to represent and dispense to us the body of Christ., But the answer
is not very difficult. It is not the office of each individual to judge
and discern, to admit or debar whom he pleases; seeing that this
prerogative belongs to all the Church in general, or rather to the pastor,
with the elders, whom he ought to have to assist him in the government of
the Church. St. Paul does not command us to examine others, but each to
examine himself. It is very true that it is our duty to admonish those
whom we see walking disorderly, and if they will not listen to us, to give
notice to the pastor, in order that he may proceed by ecclesiastical
authority. But the proper method of withdrawing from the company of the
wicked, is not to quit the communion of the Church. More-ever, it will
most frequently happen, that sins are not so notorious as to justify
proceeding to excommunication; for though the pastor may in his heart
judge some man to unworthy, he has not the power of pronouncing him such,
and interdicting him from the Supper, if he cannot prove the unworthiness
by an ecclesiastical judgment. In such case we have no other remedy than
to pray God that he would more and more deliver his Church from all
scandals, and wait for the last day, when the chaff will be completely
separated from the good grain.

32. EXCUSE, THAT HAVING ALREADY
RECEIVED CHRIST, IT IS
UNNECESSARY TO RETURN OFTEN TO RECEIVE
HIM.

The third class have no semblance of plausibility. The
spiritual bread is not given us to eat our fill of it all at once, but
rather, that having had some taste of its sweetness, we may long for it
the more, and use it when it is offered to us. This we explained above. So
long as we remain in this mortal life, Jesus Christ is never communicated
in such a way as to satiate our souls, but wills to be our constant
nourishment.

33. FOURTH GENERAL DIVISION.—ERRORS
ON THE SUPPER.

We come to the fourth principal point. The devil knowing
that our Lord has left nothing to his Church more useful than the holy
sacrament, has after his usual manner laboured from the beginning to
contaminate it by errors and superstitions, in order to corrupt and
destroy the benefit of it, and has never ceased to pursue this course,
until he has as it were completely reversed the ordinance of the Lord, and
converted it into falsehood and vanity. My intention is not to point out
at what time each abuse took its rise and at what time it was augmented;
it will be sufficient to notice articulately the errors which the devil
has introduced, and against which we must guard if we would have the
Lord's Supper in its integrity.

34. FIRST ERROR.

The first error is this—While the Lord gave us the Supper
that it might be distributed amongst us to testify to us that in
communicating in his body we have part in the sacrifice which he offered
on the cross to God his Father, for the expiation and satisfaction of our
sins—men have out of their own head invented, on the contrary, that it is
a sacrifice by which we obtain
the forgiveness of our sins before God. This is a blasphemy which it is
impossible to bear. For if we do not recognise the death of the Lord
Jesus, and regard it as our only sacrifice by which he has reconciled us
to the Father, effacing all the faults for which we were accountable to
his justice, we destroy its virtue. If we do not acknowledge Jesus Christ
to be the only sacrifice, or, as we commonly call it, priest, by whose
intercession we are restored to the Father's favour, we rob him of his
honour and do him high injustice.

35. THE SACRAMENT NOT A
SACRIFICE.

The opinion that the Supper is a sacrifice derogates from
that of Christ, and must therefore be condemned as devilish. That it does
so derogate is notorious. For how can we reconcile the two things, that
Jesus Christ in dying offered a sacrifice to his Father by which he has
once for all purchased forgiveness and pardon for all our faults, and that
it is every day necessary to sacrifice in order to obtain that which we
ought to seek in his death only? This error was not at first so extreme,
but increased by little and little, until it came to what it now is. It
appears that the ancient fathers called the Supper a sacrifice; but the
reason they give is, because the death of Christ is represented in it.
Hence their view comes to this—that this name is given it merely because
it is a memorial, of the one sacrifice, at which we ought entirely to
stop. And yet I cannot altogether excuse the custom of the early Church.
By gestures and modes of acting they figured a species of sacrifice, with
a ceremony resembling that which existed under the Old Testament,
excepting that instead of a beast they used bread as the host. As that
approaches too near to Judaism, and does not correspond to our Lord's
institution, I approve it not. For under the Old Testament, during the
time of figures, the Lord ordained such ceremonies, until the sacrifice
should be made in the person of his well-beloved Son, which was the
fulfilment of them. Since it was finished, it now only remains for us to
receive the communication of it. It is superfluous, therefore, to exhibit
it any longer under figure.

36. THE BREAD IN THE SUPPER
ORDAINED TO BE EATEN,
NOT SACRIFICED.—ERRORS OF THE
MASS.

And such is the import of the injunction which Jesus Christ has left.
It is not that we are to offer or immolate, but to take and eat what has
been offered and immolated. However, though there was some weakness in
such observance, there was not such impiety as afterwards supervened. For
to the Mass has been wholly transferred what was proper to the death of
Christ, viz., to satisfy God for our sins, and so reconcile us to him.
Moreover, the office of Christ has been transferred to those whom they
name priests, viz., persons to sacrifice to God, and in sacrificing,
intercede to obtain for us grace, and the pardon of our offences.

37. ATTEMPTED DEFENCE OF THE
SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.

I wish not to keep back the explanations which the
enemies of the truth here offer. They say that the Mass is not a new
sacrificer but only an application of the sacrifice of which we have
spoken. Although they colour their abomination somewhat by so saying,
still it is a mere quibble. For it is not merely said that the sacrifice
of Christ is one, but that it is not to be repeated, because its efficacy
endures for ever. It is not said that Christ once offered himself to the
Father, in order that others might afterwards make the same oblation, and
so apply to us the virtue of his intercession. As to applying to us the
merit of his death, that we may perceive the benefit of it, that is done
not in the way in. which the Popish Church has supposed, but when we
receive the message of the gospel, according as it is testified to us by
the ministers whom God has appointed as his ambassadors, and is sealed by
the sacraments.

38. ERRORS CONNECTED WITH THE
ABOMINATION OF THE MASS.

The common opinion approved by all their doctors and
prelates is, that by hearing Mass, and causing it to be said, they perform
a service meriting grace and righteousness before God. We say, that to
derive benefit from the Supper, it is not necessary to bring any thing of
our own in order to merit what we ask. We have only to receive in faith
the grace which is there presented to. us, and which resides not in the
sacrament, but refers us to the cross of Jesus Christ as proceeding
therefrom. Hence there is nothing more contrary to the true meaning of the
Supper, than to make a sacrifice of it. The effect of so doing is to lead
us off from recognising the death of Christ as the only sacrifice, whose
virtue endures for ever. This being well understood, it will be apparent
that all masses in which there is no such communion as the Lord enjoined,
are only an abomination. The Lord did not order that a single priest,
after making his sacrifice, should keep himself apart, but that the
sacrament should be distributed in the assembly after the manner of the
first Supper, which he made with his apostles. But after this cursed
opinion was forged, out of it, as an abyss, came forth the unhappy custom
by which the people, contenting themselves with being present to partake
in the merit of what is done, abstain from communicating, because the
priest gives out that he offers his host for all, and specially for those
present. I speak not of abuses, which are so absurd, that they deserve not
to be noticed, such as giving each saint his mass, and transferring what
is said of the Lord's Supper to St. William and St. Walter, and making an
ordinary fair of masses, buying and selling them with the other
abominations which the word sacrifice has engendered.

39.
TRANSUBSTANTIATION.

The second error which the devil has sown to corrupt this
holy ordinance, is in forging and inventing that after the words are
pronounced with an intention to consecrate, the bread is transubstantiated
into the body of Christ, and the wine into his blood. First of all, this
falsehood has no foundation in Scripture, and no countenance from the
Primitive Church, and what is more, cannot be reconciled or consist with
the word of God. When Jesus Christ, pointing to the bread, calls it his
body, is it not a very forced construction to say, that the substance of
the bread is annihilated, and the body of Christ substituted in its stead?
But there is no cause to discuss the thing as a doubtful matter, seeing
the truth is sufficiently clear to refute the absurdity. I leave out
innumerable passages of Scripture and quotations from the Fathers, in
which the sacrament is called bread. I only say that the nature of the
sacrament requires, that the material bread remain as a visible sign of
the body.

40. FROM THE NATURE OF A SACRAMENT
THE SUBSTANCE
OF THE VISIBLE SIGN MUST REMAIN.

It is a general rule in all sacraments that the signs
which we see must have some correspondence with the spiritual thing which
is figured. Thus, as in baptism, we are assured of the internal washing of
our souls when water is given us as an attestation, its property being to
cleanse corporal pollution; so in the Supper, there must be material bread
to testify to us that the body of Christ is our food. For otherwise how
could the mere colour of white give us such, a figure? We thus clearly see
how the whole representation, which the Lord was pleased to give us in
condescension to our weakness, would be lost if the bread did not truly
remain. The words which our Lord uses imply as much as if he had said:
Just as man is supported and maintained in his body by eating bread, so my
flesh is the spiritual nourishment by which souls are vivified. Moreover,
what would become of the other similitude which St. Paul employs? As
several grains of corn are mixed together to form one bread, so must we
together be one, because we partake of one bread. If there were whiteness
only without the substance, would it not be mockery to speak thus?
Therefore we conclude, without doubt, that this transubstantiation is an
invention forged by the devil to corrupt the true nature of the
Supper.

41. FALSE OPINION OF THE
BODILY PRESENCE
OF CHRIST IN THE SUPPER.

Out of this fantasy several other follies have sprung.
Would to God they were only follies, and not gross abominations. They have
imagined I know not what local presence and thought, that Jesus Christ in
his divinity and humanity was attached to this whiteness, without paying
regard to all the absurdities which follow from it. Although the old
doctors of Sorbonne dispute more subtilely how the body and blood are
conjoined with the signs, still it cannot be denied that this opinion has
been received by great and small in the Popish Church, and that it is
cruelly maintained in the present day by fire and sword, that Jesus Christ
is contained under these signs, and that there we must seek him. Now to
maintain that, it must be confessed either that the body of Christ is
without limit, or that it may be in different places. In saying this we
are brought at last to the point, that it is a mere phantom. To wish then
to establish such a presence as is to enclose the body within the sign, or
to be joined to it locally, is not only a reverie, but a damnable error,
derogatory to the glory of Christ, and destructive of what we ought to
hold in regard to his human nature. For Scripture everywhere teaches us,'
that as the Lord on earth took our humanity, so he has exalted it to
heaven, withdrawing it from mortal condition, but not changing its
nature.

42. THE BODY OF OUR SAVIOUR IN
HEAVEN THE SAME
AS THAT WHICH HE HAD ON EARTH.

We have two things to consider when we speak of our
Lord's humanity. We must neither destroy the reality of the nature, nor
derogate in any respect from his state of glory. To do so we must always
raise our thoughts on high, and there seek our Redeemer. For if we would
place him under the corruptible elements of this world, besides subverting
what Scripture tells us in regard to his human nature, we annihilate the
glory of his ascension. As several others have treated this subject at
large, I refrain from going farther. I only wished to observe, in passing,
that to fancy Jesus Christ enclosed under the bread and wine, or so to
conjoin him with it as to amuse our understanding there without looking up
to heaven, is a diabolical reverie. We will touch on this in another
place.

43. OTHER ABUSES ARISING OUT OF AN

IMAGINARY BODILY PRESENCE.

This perverse opinion, after it was once received,
engendered numerous other superstitions. First of all comes that carnal
adoration which is mere idolatry. For to prostrate ourselves before the
bread of the Supper, and worship Jesus Christ as if he were contained in
it, is to make an idol of it rather than a sacrament. The command given us
is not to adore, but to take and eat. That, therefore, ought not to have
been presumptuously attempted. Moreover, the practice always observed by
the early Church, when about to celebrate the Supper, was solemnly to
exhort the people to raise their hearts on high, to intimate, that if we
would adore Christ aright, we must not stop at the visible sign. But there
is no need to contend long on this point when the presence and conjunction
of the reality with the sign (of which we have spoken, and will again
speak) is well understood. From the same source have proceeded other
superstitious practices, as carrying the sacrament in procession through
the streets once a year; at another time making a tabernacle for it, and
keeping it to the year's end in a cupboard to amuse the people with it, as
if it were a god. As all that has not only been invented without authority
from the word of God, but is also directly opposed to the institution of
the Supper, it ought to be rejected by Christians.

44. REASON WHY THE PAPISTS
COMMUNICATE ONLY ONCE A YEAR.

We have shown the origin of the calamity which befell the
Popish Church—I mean that of abstaining from communicating in the Supper
for the whole period of a year. It is because they regard the Supper as a
sacrifice which is offered by one in the name of all. But even while thus
used only once a year, it is sadly wasted and as it were torn to pieces.
For instead of distributing the sacrament of blood to the people, as our
Lord's command bears, they are made to believe that they ought to be
contented with the other half Thus poor believers are defrauded of the
gift which the Lord Jesus had given them. For if it is no small benefit to
have communion in the blood of the Lord as our nourishment, it is great
cruelty to. rob those of it to whom it belongs. En this we may see with
what boldness and audacity the Pope has tyrannized over the Church after
he had once usurped domination.

45. THE POPE HAS MADE EXCEPTIONS TO
THE GENERAL RULES
LAID DOWN BY OUR LORD.

Our Lord having commanded his disciples to eat the bread
sanctified in his body, when he comes to the cup, does not say simply,
“drink,” but he adds expressly, that all are to drink. Would we have any
thing clearer than this? He says that we are to eat the bread without
using an universal term. He says that we are all to drink of the cup. Whence this
difference, but just that he was pleased by anticipation to meet this
wickedness of the devil? And yet such is the pride of the Pope that he
dares to say, Let not all drink. And to show that he is wiser than God, he
alleges it to be very reasonable that the priest should have some
privilege beyond the people, in honour of the sacerdotal dignity; as if
our Lord had not duly considered what distinction should be made between
them. Moreover, he objects dangers which might happen if the cup were
given in common to all. Some drop of it might occasionally be spilt; as if
our Lord had not foreseen that. Is not this to accuse God quite openly of
having confounded the order which he ought to have observed, and exposed
his people to danger without cause?

46. FRIVOLOUS REASONS FOR
WITHHOLDING THE CUP.

To show that there is no great inconvenience in this
change, they argue, that under one species the whole is comprised,
inasmuch as the body cannot be separated from the blood: as if our Lord
had without reason distinguished the one from the other. For if we can
leave one of the parts behind as superfluous, what folly must it have been
to recommend them separately. Some of his supporters, seeing that it was
impudence to maintain this abomination, have wished to give it a different
colour, viz., that Jesus Christ, in instituting, spoke only to his
apostles whom he had raised to the sacerdotal order. But how will they
answer what St. Paul said, when he delivered to all the people what he had
received of the Lord—that each should eat of this bread and drink of this
cup? Besides, who told them that our Lord gave the Supper to his apostles
as priests? The words import the opposite, when he commands them to do
after his example. (Luke xxii. 19.) Therefore lie delivers the rule which
he wishes to be always observed in his Church; and so it was anciently
observed until Antichrist, having gained the upper hand, openly raised his
horns against God and his truth to destroy it totally. We see then that it
is an intolerable perversion thus to divide and rend the sacrament,
separating the parts which God has joined.

47. THE BUFFOONERY OF THE POPE IN
REGARD TO THE SUPPER.

To get to an end, we shall embrace under one head what
might otherwise have been considered separately. This head is, that the
devil has introduced the fashion of celebrating the Supper without any
doctrine, and for doctrine has substituted ceremonies partly inept and of
no utility, and partly dangerous, having proved the cause of much
mischief. To such an extent has this been done, that the Mass, which in
the Popish Church is held to be the Supper, is, when well explained,
nothing but pure apishness and buffoonery. I call it apishness, because
they there counterfeit the Lord's Supper without reason, just as an ape at
random and without discernment imitates what he sees done.

48. THE WORD OUGHT ALWAYS TO
ACCOMPANY THE SACRAMENTS.

The principal thing recommended by our Lord is to
celebrate the ordinance with true understanding. From this it follows that
the essential part lies in the doctrine. This being taken away, it is only
a frigid unavailing ceremony. This is not only shown by Scripture, but
attested by the canons of the Pope, (Can. Detrahe. i. 4,1,) in a passage
quoted from St. Augustine, (Tract 80, in Joan.) in which he asks— “What is the water of baptism without the
word but just a corruptible element? The word (he immediately adds) not as
pronounced, but as understood.” By this he means, that the sacraments
derive their virtue from the word when it is preached intelligibly.
Without this they deserve not the name of sacraments. Now so far is there
from being any intelligible doctrine in the Mass, that, on the contrary,
the whole mystery is considered spoiled if every thing be not said and
done in whispers, so that nothing is understood. Hence their consecration
is only a species of sorcery, seeing that by muttering and gesticulating
like sorcerers, they think to constrain Jesus to come down into their
hands. We thus see how the Mass, being thus arranged, is an evident
profanation of the Supper of Christ, rather than an observance of it, as
the proper and principal substance of the Supper is wanting, viz., full
explanation of the ordinance and clear statement of the promises, instead
of the priest standing apart and muttering to himself without sense or
reason. I call it buffoonery, also, because of mimicry and' gestures,
better adapted to a farce than to such an ordinance as the sacred Supper
of our Lord.

49. THE
CEREMONIES OF THE ANCIENT LAW, WHY APPOINTED.
—THOSE OF THE PAPISTS
CENSURABLE.

It is true, indeed, that the sacrifices under the Old
Testament were performed with many ornaments and ceremonies, but because
there was a good meaning under them, and the whole was proper to instruct
and exercise the people in piety, they are very far from being like those
which are now used, and serve no purpose but to amuse the people without
doing them any good. As these gentry allege the example of the Old
Testament in defence of their ceremonies, we have to observe what
difference there is between what they do, and what God commanded the
people of Israel. Were there only this single point, that what was then
observed was founded on the commandment of the Lord, whereas all those
frivolities have no foundation, even then the difference would be large.
But we have much more to censure in them.

50. THE JEWISH CEREMONIES HAVING
SERVED THEIR PURPOSE,
THE IMITATION OF THEM ABSURD.

With good cause our Lord ordained the Jewish form for a
time, intending that it should one day come to an end and be abrogated.
Not having then given such clearness of doctrine, he was pleased that the
people should be more exercised in figures to compensate for the defect.
But since Jesus Christ has been manifested in the flesh, doctrine having
been much more clearly delivered, ceremonies have diminished. As we have
now the body, we should leave off shadows. To return to the ceremonies
which are abolished, is to repair the vail of the temple which Jesus
Christ rent by his death, and so far obscure the brightness of his gospel.
Hence we see, that such .a multitude of ceremonies in the Mass is a form
of Judaism quite contrary to Christianity. I mean not to condemn the
ceremonies which are subservient to decency and public order, and increase
the reverence for the sacrament, provided they are sober and suitable. But
such an abyss without end or limit is not at all tolerable, seeing that it
has engendered a thousand superstitions, and has in a manner stupified the
people without yielding any edification.

51. THE DEATH AND PASSION OF OUR
LORD
THE PERFECT AND ONLY SACRIFICE.

Hence also we see how those to whom God has given the
knowledge of his truth should differ from the Papists. First, they cannot
doubt that it is abominable blasphemy to regard the Mass as a sacrifice by
which the forgiveness of sins is purchased for us; or rather, that the
priest is a kind of mediator to apply the merit of Christ's passion and
death to those who purchase his mass, or are present at it, or feel
devotion for it. On the contrary, they must hold decidedly that the death
and suffering of the Lord is the only sacrifice by which the anger of God
has been satisfied, and eternal righteousness procured for us; and,
likewise, that the Lord Jesus has entered into the heavenly sanctuary in
order to appear there for us, and intercede in virtue of his sacrifice.
Moreover, they will readily grant, that the benefit of his death is
communicated to us in the Supper, not by the merit of the act, but because
of the promises which are given us, provided we receive them in faith.
Secondly, they should on no account grant that the bread is
transubstantiated into the body of Jesus Christ, nor the wine into his
blood, but should persist in holding that the visible signs retain their
true substance, in order to represent the spiritual reality of which we
have spoken. Thirdly, they ought also to hold for certain, that the Lord
gives us in the Supper that which he signifies by it, and, consequently,
that we truly receive the. body and blood of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless
they will not seek him as if he were enclosed under the bread, or attached
locally to the visible sign. So far from adoring the sacrament, they will
rather raise their understandings and their hearts on high, as well to
receive Jesus Christ, as to adore him.

52. VIEW OF ENLIGHTENED CHRISTIANS
IN REGARD TO THE SUPPER.

Hence they will despise and condemn as idolatrous all
those superstitious practices of carrying about the sacrament in pomp and
procession, and building tabernacles in which to adore it. For the
promises of our Lord extend only to the uses which he has authorized.
Next, they will hold that to deprive the people of one of the parts of the
sacrament, viz., the cup, is to violate and corrupt the ordinance of the
Lord, and that to observe it properly it must be administered in all its
integrity. Lastly, they will regard it as a superfluity, not only useless
but dangerous, and not at all suitable to Christianity, to use so many
ceremonies taken from the Jews contrary to the simplicity which the
Apostles left us, and that it is still more perverse to celebrate the
Supper with mimicry and buffoonery, while no doctrine is stated, or rather
all doctrine is buried, as if the Supper were a kind of magical trick.

53. LAST DIVISION.—RECENT DISPUTES
ON THE SUPPER.

To have done, it is necessary to come to the last
principal point, viz., the contention which has arisen in our time in
regard to this matter. Now, as it is an unhappy business— the devil, no
doubt, having stirred it up to impede, nay altogether to interrupt the
course of the gospel—so far am I from taking pleasure in referring to it,
that I could wish the remembrance of it were altogether abolished.
Nevertheless, as I see many good consciences troubled, because they do not
know to what side to turn, I shall only say as much as may seem necessary
to show them how they ought to decide.

54. GOD SOMETIMES ALLOWS HIS OWN
PEOPLE
TO FALL INTO ERROR.

First, I beseech all believers, in the name of God, not
to be too much scandalized at the great difference which has arisen among
those who ought to be a kind of leaders in bringing back the light of
truth. For it is no new thing for the Lord to leave his servants in some
degree of ignorance, and suffer them to have debate among themselves—not
to leave them for ever, but only for a time to humble them. And indeed had
every thing till now turned out to a wish without any disturbance, men
might possibly have forgotten themselves, or the grace of God might have
been less known than it ought. Thus the Lord has been pleased to take away
all ground of glorying from men, in. order that he might alone be
glorified. Moreover, if we consider in what an abyss of darkness the world
was when those who have shared this controversy began to bring back the
truth, we shall not wonder that they did not know every thing at the
beginning. The wonder rather is, that our Lord in so short a time
enlightened them that they were themselves able to escape and draw others
out of that sink of error in which they had been so long immersed. But no
better course can be taken than to show how matters have proceeded,
because this will make it appear that people have not so much cause to be
scandalized at it as is commonly supposed.

55. HISTORY OF THE CONTROVERSY ON
THIS SUBJECT
AMONG THE REFORMERS.—LUTHER.

When Luther began to teach, he took a view of the subject
which seemed to imply, that in regard to the corporal presence in the
Supper he was willing to leave the generally received opinion untouched;
for while condemning transubstantiation, he said that the bread was the
body of Christ, inasmuch as it was united with `him. Besides, he added
similitudes which were somewhat harsh and rude; but he was in a manner
compelled to do so, as he could not otherwise explain his meaning. For it
is difficult to give an explanation of so high a matter without using some
impropriety of speech.

56. VIEWS OF ZUINGLIUS AND
ŒCOLOMPADIUS.

On the other hand arose Zuinglius and Œcolompadius, who,
considering the abuse and deceit which the devil had employed in
establishing such a carnal presence of Christ as had been taught and held
for more than six hundred years, thought it unlawful to disguise their
sentiments, since that view implied an execrable idolatry, in that Jesus
Christ was worshipped as enclosed in the bread. Now, as it was very
difficult to remove this opinion, `which had been so long rooted in the
hearts of men, they applied all their talents to bring it into discredit,
showing how gross an error it was not to recognise what is so clearly
declared in Scripture touching the ascension of Jesus Christ, that he has
been received in. his humanity into heaven, and will remain there until be
descend to judge the world. Meantime, while engrossed with this point,
they forgot to show what presence of Jesus Christ ought to be believed in
the Supper, and what communion of his body and blood is `there
received.

57. LUTHER IMPUGNS THEIR
VIEWS.

Luther thought that they meant to leave nothing but the
bare signs without their spiritual substance. Accordingly he began to
resist them to the face, and call them heretics. After the contention was
once begun it got more inflamed by time, and has thus continued too
bitterly for the space of fifteen years or so without the parties ever
listening to each other in a peaceful temper. For though they once had a
conference, there was such alienation that they parted without any
agreement. Instead of meeting on some good ground, they have always
receded more and more, looking to nothing else than to defend their own
view and refute the opposite.

58. ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION.—CAUSE
OF FAILURE.

We thus see wherein Luther failed on his side, and
Zuinglius and Œcolompadius on theirs. It was Luther's duty first to have
given notice that it was not his intention to establish such a local
presence as the Papist's dream; secondly, to protest that he did not mean
to have the sacrament adored instead of God; and lastly, to abstain from
those similitudes so harsh and difficult to be conceived, or have used
them with moderation, interpreting them so that they could not give rise
to any scandal. After the debate was moved, he exceeded bounds as well in
declaring his opinion, as in blaming others with too much sharpness of
speech. For instead of explaining himself in such a way as to make it
possible to receive his view, he, with his accustomed vehemence in
assailing those who contradicted him, used hyperbolical forms of speech
very difficult to be borne by those who otherwise were not, much disposed
to believe at his nod. The other party also offended, in being so bent on
declaiming against the superstitious and fanatical opinion of the Papists,
touching the local presence of Jesus Christ within the sacrament, and the
perverse adoration consequent upon it, that they laboured more to pull
down what was evil than to build up what was good; for though they did not
deny the truth, they did not teach it so clearly as they ought to have
done. I mean that in their too great anxiety to maintain that the bread
and wine are called the body of Christ, because they are signs of them,
they did not attend to add, that though they are signs, the reality is
conjoined with them, and thus protest, that they had no intention whatever
to obscure the true communion which the Lord gives us in his body and
blood by this sacrament.

59. DUTY OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD IN
REGARD
TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF TRUTH.

Both parties failed in not having the patience to listen
to each other in order to follow the truth without passion, when it would
have been found. Nevertheless, let us not lose sight of our duty, which is
not to forget the gifts which the Lord bestowed upon them, and the
blessings which he has distributed to us by their hands and means. For if
we are not ungrateful and forgetful of what we owe them, we shall be well
able to pardon that and much more, without blaming or defaming them. In
short, since we see that they were, and still are, distinguished for
holiness of life, excellent knowledge, and ardent zeal to edify the
Church, we ought always to judge and speak of them with modesty, and even
with reverence; since at last God, after having thus humbled them, has in
mercy been pleased to put an end to this unhappy disputation, or at least
to calm it preparatory to its final settlement. I speak thus, because no
formulary has yet been published in which concord is fixed, as is most
expedient. But this will be when God will be pleased to assemble those who
are to frame it in one place.

60. FRATERNAL CONCORD AMONG THE
CHURCHES.

Meanwhile it should satisfy us, that there is fraternity
and communion among the churches, and that all agree in so far as is
necessary for meeting together, according to the commandment of God. We all then confess with
one mouth, that on receiving the sacrament in faith, according to the
ordinance of the Lord, we are truly made partakers of the proper substance
of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. How that is done some may deduce
better, and explain more clearly than others. Be this as it may, on the
one hand, in order to exclude all carnal fancies, we must raise our hearts
upwards to heaven, not thinking that our Lord Jesus is so debased as to be
enclosed under some corruptible elements; and, on the other hand, not to
impair the efficacy of this holy ordinance, we must hold that it is made
effectual by the secret and miraculous power of God, and that the Spirit
of God is the bond of participation, this being the reason why it is
called spiritual.

HISTORICAL NOTE

Written in 1540, this was
published in 1541. Beza calls it “a little golden Treatise on the
Lord's Supper for the use of his countrymen in French.” It was
afterwards translated into Latin by Galars and made such a contribution to
common understanding that “a termination of those most unhappy
controversies, in which all the learned and all the good deservedly
acquiesced, is chiefly to be ascribed under God to that
treatise.” Such was Beza's admiration for it.

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