In this final installment we will wrap up our series on Lutheran and Reformed Christology and their respective doctrines of the Lord's Supper. To properly understand this rather large difference, we must hearken back to the Marburg Colloquy of 1529. On one side were the Swiss Reformers, headed up by Zwingli. On the other side were the Wittenberg Reformers, lead by Martin Luther.
In charity, the Germans and the Swiss Reformers agreed on numerous articles of faith. However, the one major point of contention was the Lord's Supper. Luther would steadfastly insist that Christ is bodily present in thr Eucharist, whereas Zwingli and Oecolampadius would deny such, instead favoring a memorial meal. But why?
The Swiss group, headed by Zwingli, put forth two main arguments. First, they would argue on the basis of John 6:63, that Christ forbids us to eat his flesh. Second, on the basis of the Ascension, that Christ is seated at the right hand of God and that his body cannot possibly be in multiple places (in the Lord's Supper) at one time.
The German group, headed by Luther, would not budge, nor entertain philosophical or mathematical arguments from the Swiss party. Luther stood fast on the words "This is my body."
Theologically, there are a few things going on here, which would come to light down the road. As we have spoken of already, Lutheran theology holds to a doctrine called the genus maiestaticum. Reformed theology rejects this. Second, we also must understand that both camps saw the phrase "the right hand of God" differently. Third, Reformed theology holds to a doctrine that states "the finite cannot contain the infinite."
For Lutheranism, due to the communication of the attributes, Christ can be anywhere at any time, because Christ is God. Wherever Christ can be by way of his divinity, there you have the whole Christ, both bodily as well as divinity, because Christ is one person. His divine nature is not, therefore, present by itself apart from his humanity.
The Reformed, and this extrapolates to Calvin and his successors as well, deny this. They claim that by nature, a human body occupies a finite given space. This is to say, as a local mode of presence, a human body is very finite and has a definite size and shape. Therefore, the communication of the attributes is limited to Christ's local circumscribed human body, and this ends up being a flat denial of the true bodily presence of Christ in the Holy Supper.
For Lutheranism, the right hand of God is everywhere. Why is this? Simply put, the right hand of God is a position of authority and rule and dominion. Lutheranism at this juncture appeals to Scriptures such as this,
St. Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
This is of course the Great Commission. Notice a couple things. First, Jesus says to the Apostles that "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." To wit, Jesus is the reigning sovereign king of everything and everywhere. He has all authority in heaven as well as on earth. Second, Jesus says that "I am with you always, to the end of the age." Thus, not only does Jesus say he has all authority everywhere, he also says, right before he ascends to heaven, that he will be with us always, during this age. He does not say the Holy Spirit will be with us always, although that is true as well. He says HE will be with us always, even now.
For Reformed Theology, this is not the case. In that theology, the right hand of God is an actual place in heaven where Christ will stay until he returns in glory. Therefore, he cannot be bodily present in the Lord's Supper. The Reformed Theologians refer to this by the term "ubiquity," which essentially means omnipresence. Thus, Christ, having a human body, cannot be omnipresent, and therefore, not bodily present in the Lord's Supper. Later, John Calvin called this ubiquity of Christ a "monstrous phantasm."
However, what both Zwingli and Calvin both miss is that nowhere does Lutheran theology claim a local presence of Christ's body and blood. Hence Zwingli's accusation at Marburg that Luther held to a local presence of Christ in the Supper was an attack on a position Luther did not hold. By local, we mean simply put, as Christ was while Incarnate. We do not go to Jerusalem and shake Jesus' hand or pose for photo ops with him, because he certainly did ascend and will not return on a local basis until his return in glory. However, Christ is God and he says the bread is his body. In other words, Christ is God and if he wants to make himself present in some other mysterious way, he can do so. You know, perhaps in and with bread and wine?
When Christ gave us the Lord's Supper and said "this is my body...this is my blood" they are to be believed by faith and not explained (Rome) or denied (Zwingli, Calvin) by use of human reason and philosophy.
We stick to the words of Christ. This is my body. The bread is his body. He feeds himself to us in our mouths. We do not need philosophy, as we have the sure final will and testament of the Son of God. This doctrine is far too important and vital to our salvation to ever be compromised in any way, shape, or form, lest we deny the plain teaching and words of God Incarnate. Any human attempt at a philosophy to explain in favor of or deny these words are true is subtraction, not addition.
The later Reformed churches, headed by Calvin, attempted to create a via media (middle way) between Luther and Zwingli at Marburg, but there simply is not one. Calvin would posit that we do receive Christ's body and blood, but it is spiritually by faith where we are lifted to the right hand of God via the Holy Spirit to partake by faith of the absent Christ. But this, seen through Lutheran eyes, is nothing more than a fancy rejection of the real presence. Reformed theologians like to affirm the real presence these days, but unless Christ is truly there, in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine with his true body and blood, it is in reality an affirmation of a real absence with no presence. For Christ does not say "This is my Spirit" or "The Holy Spirit will lift you up to partake of me" or something along those lines. He says "This is my body." Either the bread and wine are Christ's body and blood and go in your mouth or Christ is not present according to his institution. The Book of Concord says,
Epitome: VIII:17
Hence He also is able and it is very easy for Him to impart, as one who is present, His true body and blood in the Holy Supper, not according to the mode or property of the human nature, but according to the mode and property of the right hand of God, as Dr. Luther says in accordance with our Christian faith for children, which presence (of Christ in the Holy Supper] is not [physical or] earthly, nor Capernaitic; nevertheless it is true and substantial, as the words of His testament read: This is, is, is My body, etc.
And earlier in the Epitome, regarding the Lord's Supper,
Epitome: VII:10-16
The grounds, however, on which we stand against the Sacramentarians in this matter are those which Dr. Luther has laid down in his Large Confession concerning the Lord’s Supper.
The first is this article of our Christian faith: Jesus Christ is true, essential, natural, perfect God and man in one person, undivided and inseparable.
The second: That God’s right hand is everywhere; at which Christ is placed in deed and in truth according to His human nature, [and therefore] being present, rules, and has in His hands and beneath His feet everything that is in heaven and on earth [as Scripture says, Eph. 1:22 ], where no man else, nor angel, but only the Son of Mary is placed; hence He can do this [those things which we have said].
The third: That God’s Word is not false, and does not deceive.
The fourth: That God has and knows of various modes of being in any place, and not only the one [is not bound to the one] which philosophers call localis (local) for circumscribed].
We believe, teach, and confess that the body and blood of Christ are received with the bread and wine, not only spiritually by faith, but also orally; yet not in a Capernaitic, but in a supernatural, heavenly mode, because of the sacramental union; as the words of Christ clearly show, when Christ gives direction to take, eat, and drink, as was also done by the apostles; for it is written Mark 14:23: And they all drank of it. St. Paul likewise says, 1 Cor. 10:16: The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? that is: He who eats this bread eats the body of Christ, which also the chief ancient teachers of the Church, Chrysostom, Cyprian, Leo I, Gregory, Ambrose, Augustine, unanimously testify.
We believe, teach, and confess that not only the true believers [in Christ] and the worthy, but also the unworthy and unbelievers, receive the true body and blood of Christ; however, not for life and consolation, but for judgment and condemnation, if they are not converted and do not repent, 1 Cor. 11:27-29.
Here we have a short summary of the Lutheran doctrine, which is roundly rejected by Reformed theology. For further reading regarding this topic, I recommend the following:
1. Epitome of the Formula of Concord, VII, regarding the Holy Supper, and VIII, regarding the person of Christ.
2. Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, VII and VIII, regarding the same, fleshed out in much more detail.
3. This Is My Body by Hermann Sasse. This book is an historical account pieced together using primary sources from the Marburg Colloquy of 1529.
4. The Institutes by John Calvin, Book Fourth, chapter 17 on the Lord's Supper, which lays forth the groundwork for the Reformed doctrine.
Sadly, our two traditions, while certainly having much in common, will never be in communion with each other. The Lutheran church sees this as a fundamental doctrine and will never compromise it. This may sound harsh, but our stance is that Reformed churches reject what the Lord's Supper is, and therefore do not have a valid Lord's Supper. This does not mean we see them as lost or heathen or something like that. But we certainly do see them as heterodox not only on the Lord's Supper, but less so on the person of Christ as well. We hesitate to use the word heresy in this regard. We do see Reformed Christology as leaning towards Nestorianism, but falls short of full blown Nestorianism - save for the late Gordon Clark, who flatly said Chalcedon did not define their terms well enough and said Christ is two persons. But I digress.
May the Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ, lead us into all truth.
+Pax+
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