‘This Mystical Blessing’: The Patristic Roots of John Calvin’s Eucharistic Theology

Pro Ecclesia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 106385122110038
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Butler
Keyword(s):  
Lord's Supper ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Eucharistic Theology ◽  
Biblical Commentaries

Though committed to the final authority of Scripture in all matters, John Calvin’s Institutes and biblical commentaries show him to be a remarkable student of patristics. His doctrine of the Lord’s Supper was no exception, as Calvin calls upon the likes of Augustine, Chrysostom, Tertullian and others to support his position. This article, therefore, contends that Calvin’s engagement with the Fathers – though imperfect – demonstrates that his view, in essence, may be clearly traced to the patristic period. It also suggests that his reverence for tradition, which he considered consistent with his commitment to sola scriptura, makes Calvin a prime example for contemporary evangelicals as they reflect on their own doctrine of the Supper. Not only would paying close attention to the Fathers enrich their own understanding, but given that such figures are esteemed by the wider church, it may well contribute to a more robust ecumenical conversation around the sacraments.

scholarly journals Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper

Perichoresis ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-163
Author(s):  
Wim Janse
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Lord's Supper ◽  
Union With Christ ◽  
Eucharistic Theology ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
Philipp Melanchthon ◽  
The Middle Ages

Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper In order to pinpoint its proprium, it is necessary to understand John Calvin’s Eucharistic theology within the wider context of the intra-Protestant debates of his time. As a second- generation Reformer, Calvin developed his ideas explicitly in reaction to and as a middle way between the Lutheran and Swiss Reformed discussions of the 1520’s. To that end this essay first focuses on the main developments from the Middle Ages onwards, and then presents Calvin from the perspective of the positions taken up by some of his contemporaries, in particular Philipp Melanchthon. Next, some representative texts written by Calvin himself are analysed. Although Calvin’s Eucharistic views were not from the beginning a coherent and unified doctrine but developed only gradually, they may be described in a systematic-synthetic way. With respect to the matter of closed, open, and frequent communion, it is observed that for Calvin a regular celebration is essential to the deepening of the believer’s union with Christ.

The Eucharist and the Workings of Divine Presence

2021 ◽  
pp. 81-106
Author(s):  
Silvianne Aspray
Keyword(s):  
Lord's Supper ◽  
Divine Presence ◽  
Eucharistic Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
Spatial Terms ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers Vermigli’s critical and constructive contributions to the debates of his time on the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper. It argues that Vermigli’s rejection of transubstantiation is grounded in a more fundamental rejection of a mutual competition between finite and infinite agencies, which is indicative of a structure of causality in which infinite agency may operate through the mediation of finite causes. However, this participatory emphasis is undercut by the fact that the fundamental category by which he describes the relationship between God and the world in this context is spatial: nearness and distance. That Vermigli takes recourse to spatial terms in order to set apart God from the world (rather than different qualities of being) points to a univocal understanding of Divine and created being. The chapter therefore concludes that Vermigli’s Eucharistic theology implicitly displays both a participatory and a more univocal metaphysical framework at the same time.

The Theology of Poems on the Lord's Supper by the Dutch Calvinist, Constantijn Huygens (1596–1687)

2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-144
Author(s):  
Christopher Joby
Keyword(s):  
No Value ◽  
English Language ◽  
Lord's Supper ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Religious Poetry ◽  
Eucharistic Theology ◽  
Divine Grace ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Divine Forgiveness ◽  
Central Tension

AbstractIn this article, I provide a detailed analysis of the poems on the Lord's Supper by the Dutch statesman and man of letters, Constantijn Huygens (1596–1687). Between 1642 and 1684, he wrote eighteen poems on this subject, sixteen in Dutch and two in Latin. The type of poem varies from pithy epigrams to sonnets, through to longer poems over fifty lines in length, replete with well-conceived poetic tropes. To date, these poems have received little scholarly attention. Huygens was a lifelong member of the Reformed church and his poetry considers themes which are central to Reformed theology, such as human sin, divine grace and human gratitude. In his poetry, he recognises that he is a sinner and that it is not sufficient merely to ask for divine forgiveness, and then sin again. He acknowledges the need to intend to change his ways, but also recognises that he can only do this with divine assistance. Huygens published most of these poems and although such a public acknowledgement of sin may seem strange to us, there is a sense in which he was performing a public act of confession, to make common cause with his fellow believers, and also perhaps to encourage them to do the same. Much of the poetry considers the ontology and efficacy of the Lord's Supper. As well as exploring familiar tropes such as the sacrament as a feast and a pledge for God's promises, Huygens also asks about the very nature of the bread and wine of the sacrament. We might expect him to ascribe little or no value to the elements themselves, beyond, to use Brian Gerrish's phrase, ‘presenting what they represent’. poetry. However, at some points, the language Huygens uses to refer to the elements, such as ‘holy bread’ and ‘healing dew’, suggests something more is at stake. Some may dismiss such phrases as mere lyrical flourish, but I argue that they point to a central tension inherent within Reformed eucharistic theology between sign and signified and, furthermore, that this poetry offers us the opportunity to explore that tension. Huygens’ poems bear comparison with the best English-language religious poetry of the seventeenth century, and remind us that poetry as well as prose can offer us valuable theological insight.

2008 Update on the Medicare Exceptions Process

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-16
Author(s):  
Robert C. Fifer
Keyword(s):  
Close Attention ◽  
Submission Process ◽  
Final Rule ◽  
Fee Schedule

Abstract Since 1999 when Medicare caps first became effective, providers have had to pay close attention to the claims process. This article summarizes the Medicare Exceptions Process that, for 2007, underwent a number of changes. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule of November 27, 2007 made three important changes. These changes addressed certification for patient plan of care, personnel qualifications for therapists, and a review of Part B policies and their application to Part A settings that are projected to go into effect in July of 2008. Particular attention was given to explanations of the manual submission process and the change in definitions of “complexities” and of a “therapist.”

Infections in Athletes Demand Close Attention

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (19) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
SUSAN LONDON
Keyword(s):  
Close Attention

Apparitions of ‘Freedom’ (the Word)

Derrida Today ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Hobson
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Change Of Perspective

Derrida thematises his writing through a change of perspective which moves from very detailed examination of an argument to more general statements. This paper is a consideration of how Derrida anchors his close attention to the detail of an argument in a wider philosophical-historical and indeed social framework. In this paper, the word in question is ‘freedom’, discussed with the philosopher and psychoanalyst Elisabeth Roudinesco; this paper moves back chronologically to Force of Law, and finally to a passage in Of Grammatology to demonstrate that in Derrida's work from early to late there is a web of reflection about freedom.

Building an American Empire

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Frymer
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
American Empire ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
Westward Expansion ◽  
White Settler ◽  
Settlement Policies ◽  
Federal Land ◽  
The Government ◽  
Land Policies

This book examines the politics of the United States' westward expansion, showing how the government's regulation of population movements on the frontier, both settlement and removal, advanced national aspirations for empire and promoted the formation of a white settler nation. The book details how a government that struggled to exercise plenary power used federal land policies to assert authority over the direction of expansion by engineering the pace and patterns of settlement and to control the movement of populations. At times, the government mobilized populations for compact settlement in strategically important areas of the frontier; at other times, policies were designed to actively restrain settler populations in order to prevent violence, international conflict, and breakaway states. The book examines how these settlement patterns helped construct a dominant racial vision for America by incentivizing and directing the movement of white European settlers onto indigenous and diversely populated lands. The book pays close attention to the failures as well, from the lack of further expansion into Latin America to the defeat of the black colonization movement. It reveals the lasting and profound significance government settlement policies had for the nation, both for establishing America as dominantly white and for restricting broader aspirations for empire in lands that could not be so racially engineered.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND TRANSLATIVE ACQUISITION OF RIGHTS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DOCTRINE OF OWNERSHIP TRANSFER

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myroslava Hudyma ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Property Right ◽  
Legal Capacity ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Ownership Transfer ◽  
The Right ◽  
Qualitative Characteristics

Within the framework of the general doctrine of constitutive and translational acquisition of rights, the publication made an attempt to identify their suitability for describing the phenomenon of ownership transfer. The general characteristics of translational and constitutive acquisition of rights are analyzed, their differences are highlighted, and it is emphasized that the specified types can cover such legal situations as full transfer of the right (the right as a whole), and transfer of a part of powers (as components of the certain right). The paper underlines that the differences between the types of acquisition of rights are not so much quantitative (one jurisdiction or their complex is transferred), as qualitative characteristics and such issues are especially relevant in the spectrum of research on the transfer of ownership as a right that includes a triad of powers. Close attention is paid to the construction of constitutive acquisition of right, the possibility of use of which is extremely controversial, due to the overwhelming denial of the correctness of separation and alienation of a separate authority from ownership right, because the approval of the latter will lead to theoretical dissonance on the existence of incomplete (split ownership). It is emphasized that the application of the construction of the transfer of authority can take place in different shades of meaning and be combined with the right alienation, and without it. Therefore, the construction of right granting without alienation of the right is quite viable. Moreover, the transfer of one or even several powers of the owner is not only practically possible, but also necessary to establish limited property rights on the basis of full property right (ownership right). However, it is noted that in these cases, the acquirer will not receive the right of the alienator as a whole, but only certain legal possibilities of behavior in relation to a particular good. The legal capacity of the acquirer will not coincide with the legal capabilities of the alienator in content and scope, and therefore to talk about the transfer of ownership is incorrect, only a certain authority (powers) of the owner will be transferred, provided its (their) separation admissibility. The paper concludes that the specifics of property rights, which forms a triad of indivisible powers, determines the possibility of applying the construction «transfer of ownership» only to cases of translational acquisition of right, in which the acquirer receives a right identical to the right of the grantor both in content and volume.

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