The sacred supper - 27 January 2011 |
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Here are the questions for session 43 of the Emmanuel Guided Reading Course.
In our final session on the sacraments we turn this week to the chapter on the Lord’s Supper in Calvin, Institutes, IV.xvii (1:1360-1428). This is a tricky chapter, both because it depends on what Calvin has said about the sacraments, the Spirit and union with Christ in earlier sections of the Institutes, and also because it addresses sixteenth-century misunderstandings of the Lord’s Supper with which Calvin assumes his readers are familiar.
You may therefore find it helpful to re-read sections IV.xiv.3-4, 7 on the relationship between sacraments, the Word, God’s promises and faith. Readers unfamiliar with the contours of the sixteenth-century debates would do well to consult pages 331-338 of Matthew Mason’s article “A Spiritual Banquet: John Calvin on the Lord’s Supper,” Churchman 117.4 (2003), pp. 329-346, in which he describes the four main views of the Lord’s Supper prevalent in Calvin’s day (Rome, Luther, Calvin and Zwingli). This article is available online here.
“In his Sacred Supper he bids me take, eat, and drink his body and blood under the symbols of bread and wine … This mystery, like others, is performed by men, but divinely; on earth, but in a heavenly way” (Institutes, IV.xvii.32)
“We cannot love Christ without loving him in the brethren” (Institutes, IV.xvii.38)
1. Why, according to Calvin, can “godly souls … gather great delight and assurance from this sacrament” (IV.xvii.2)? Does this reflect your experience?
2. What bearing does Calvin believe that participation in the Lord’s Supper has upon our assurance of salvation (IV.xvii.2)? Does this surprise you?
Jesus’ discourse on the Bread of Life in John 6 lies in the background of sections 4 to 7 of this chapter of Calvin’s work. You may find it helpful to re-read this passage of John before proceeding.
3. How would Calvin respond to the claim that to eat Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood (cf. for example John 6:51-54) means simply to believe in him (IV.xvii.5; cf. John 6:29)?
4. How does Calvin reach the conclusion “that communion of Christ’s flesh and blood is necessary for all who aspire to heavenly life” (IV.xvii.9; cf. also section 8)?
5. “The godly ought by all means to keep this rule: whenever they see symbols appointed by the Lord, to think and be persuaded that the truth of the thing signified is surely present there” (IV.xvii.10)? What does this mean? How does Calvin reach this conclusion?
6. How do “the craftsmen of the Roman court” understand Christ’s presence (IV.xvii.12; cf. sections 13-14).
7. Why did this Roman doctrine incline its adherents to be “little concerned about true faith” (IV.xvii.13)?
8. What point does Calvin seek to establish by his brief discussion of Exodus 17 in IV.xvii.15?
9. In IV.xvii.16-31 Calvin focuses his attention on the Lutheran doctrine of the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. Can you work out (1) what the Lutheran doctrine was (especially sections 16, 20); (2) how the Lutherans supported their position (especially section 30); and (3) how Calvin opposed them (especially sections 16, 18, 19, 26 and 29)?
This portion of Calvin’s work is complex. You may find it helpful simply to read through these sections, highlighting parts that fall under one of these three headings. Then try to assemble the pieces in your mind. Don’t worry if you get lost – that’s what the tutorial is for!
10. “Greatly mistaken are those who conceive no presence of flesh in the Supper unless it lies in the bread” (IV.xvii.31). Why?
11. What, in Calvin’s view, happens when unbelievers eat the bread and drink the wine of the Lord’s Supper (IV.xvii.33-34)?
12. Bearing in mind what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:18-20; 11:27-30, do you agree with Calvin’s claim that, “We nowhere read that men bring death upon themselves by receiving Christ unworthily, but rather by despising him” (IV.xvii.33). How do Calvin’s comments here compare with what he says in IV.xvii.40?
In section 35 to 37 Calvin criticises some superstitious practices which had arisen during the Middle Ages, before moving on to consider some practical and pastoral matters in sections 38 to 46.
13. How does the Lord’s Supper serve as “a kind of exhortation … to purity and holiness of life, and to love, peace and concord” (IV.xvii.38)?
14. “The right administering of the sacrament requires the Word” (IV.xvii.39). Why?
15. “I’m not worthy to receive the Lord’s Supper.” How would Calvin respond to a believer who said this (sections 41-42)?
16. How often should the Lord’s Supper be celebrated (IV.xvii.43-44, 46)? Why?
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Guided Reading Course, Minister's Blog