gray stainless steel chalice and bread bun

Considering Communion: Baptists Agree with Calvin


– 13 Min Read

Introduction

Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

John 6:52-58 (LSB)

To say that the church is far from being united on all things concerning the Lord’s Supper would be an understatement. There is so much debate and controversy surrounding this ordinance of the church that to catalog it all in an article would be impossible. We will not even begin to discuss Roman Catholics and their view of transubstantiation [1], but will simply discuss this topic within the Protestant tradition. There are three main views within Protestantism of the Lord’s Supper, which we will briefly mention and I desire to show how Baptists historically held one of them.


Communion Tray and Wine on a Decanter

“Table-Talk”


Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to prudent people. You judge what I say. 16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Look at the nation Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to become sharers in demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

1 Corinthians 10:14-21 (LSB)

One of the views is consubstantiation, which is the view that Christ’s physical body and blood are present in the Supper with the elements. This view is easy to remember because of the prefix “con”, meaning “with.” This was the view promoted by Luther and to this day is maintained in the Lutheran tradition.

The next to mention is that of the memorialist view. This view is said to have originated from Ulrich Zwingli, although it appears that the Zwinglian perspective would not match exactly the current appreciation of the memorialist view. This view is also fairly easy to figure out based on the word “memorial.” This implies that the Lord’s Supper is nothing more than a memorial of Jesus’ death.

The last view is that of the spiritual presence view. It was popularized by John Calvin and was held throughout the Reformed tradition. This view utterly rejects the notion of Christ’s physical body being present at the Table along with the idea that this sacrament is merely a memorial of Christ’s death. Instead, it proposes that Christ, by faith in the individual and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is made spiritually present in the sacrament. In Book Four of Calvin’s Institutes we read;

“Therefore, what our mind does not comprehend let faith conceive–i.e., that the Spirit truly unites things separated by space. That sacred communion of flesh and blood by which Christ transfuses his life into us, just as if it penetrated our bones and marrow, he testifies and seals in the Supper, and that not by presenting a vain or empty sign, but by there exerting an efficacy of the Spirit by which he fulfills what he promises. And truly the thing there signified he exhibits and offers to all who sit down at that spiritual feast, although it is beneficially received by believers only who receive this great benefit with true faith and heartfelt gratitude. For this reason the apostle said, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ”? (1 Cor 10:16).”

– John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion [2]

Anticipating an argument of him ‘over spiritualizing the ordinance’, Calvin adds a most excellent counterpoint;

“There is no ground to object that the expression is figurative, and gives the sign the name of the thing signified. I admit, indeed, that the breaking of bread is a symbol, not the reality. But this being admitted, we duly infer from the exhibition of the symbol that the thing itself is exhibited. For unless we would charge God with deceit, we will never presume to say that he holds forth an empty symbol. Therefore, if by breaking of bread the Lord truly represents the partaking of his body, there ought to be no doubt whatever that he truly exhibits and performs it. The rule which the pious ought surely persauded that the truth of the thing signified is also present. For why does the Lord put the symbol of his body into your hands, but just to assure you that you truly partake of him? If this is true let us feel as much assured that the visible sign is given us in seal of an invisible gift as that his body itself is given to us.”

– John Calvin, Insitutes of the Christian Religion [3]

The Lord’s Supper is surely filled with symbolism, i.e. the bread and the wine. However, according to Calvin, these cannot be “empty symbols” but must take the believer, through faith and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the true spiritual reality it represents. Therefore, according to Calvin, when we come together to partake of the “one bread” and “the cup” we are partaking of a most spiritual feast; we are feasting upon Christ. B. A. Garrish helpfully outlines the main features of Calvin’s view of the Lord’s Supper in his work Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin;

  1. 1. The Lord’s Supper is a divine gift. It is not merely the reminder of a gift.
  2. 2. The gift that is given is Christ himself. In addition, it is the whole Christ that is given.
  3. 3. The gift is given through signs, which are intimately connected with the reality that is signified and which guarantee the presence of the reality that is signified.
  4. 4. The gift is given by the Holy Spirit. When Calvin says that Christ is “spiritually present,” he means that the body and blood of Christ are made present by the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit.
  5. 5. The gift is given to all who communicate, but those who recieve the Supper without faith recieve it to their condemnation.
  6. 6. The gift envokes gratitude, and this is the eucharistic sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise.

“Spiritually Present”


1 Corinthians 10:14-21 refers to us partaking of the elements of the Lord’s Table and by so we partake of Christ just as we can likewise partake of demons through eating meat sacrificed to idols. In Paul’s understanding of the Supper, we can have a spiritual fellowship (koinonia) with Christ by partaking in the meal, just as one could with a demon. Baptists historically understood this text in this way, which is in accord with Calvin’s view of spiritual presence. For example, here is John Gill interpreting 1 Cor. 10:14-21;

“The apostle’s view in this instance, and his argument upon it, is this, that if believer’s, by eating the bread and drinking the wine in the Lord’s supper, spiritually partake of Christ, of his body and of his blood, and have communion with him; then those who eat of things sacrificed unto idols, have in so doing communion with them, are partake of the table of devils, and so are guilty of idolatry, which he would have them avoid.”

– John Gill [4]

Though Baptists today by and large are memorialists, they used to agree with Calvin. The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith shows us that Baptists believed that the sign leads to the thing signified if rightly observed.

Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this ordinance, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually receive, and feed upon Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death; the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses. (1 Cor. 10:16, 11:23–26)

2LCF: Article XXX; Paragraph 7

An Orthodox Catechism is a Baptist version of the Heidelberg Catechism. The catechism was written by Particular Baptist Hercules Collins and in it, the question is asked; “Why then doth Christ call bread His body, and the cup His blood, or the New Testament in His blood; and St. Paul calleth bread and wine the communion of the body and blood of Christ?” The answer Collins gives is a spiritual presence answer.

A. Christ not without great consideration speaketh so, to wit, not only for to teach us that as the bread and wine sustain the life of the body, so also His crucified body, and blood shed, are indeed the meat and drink of our souls, whereby they are nourished to eternal life; but much more that by this visible sign and pledge, He may assure us that we are as verily partakers of His body and blood, through the working of the Holy Ghost, as we do perceive by the mouth of our body, these holy signs in rememberance of Him; and further also, that His sufferings and obedience is so certainly ours, as though we ourselves had suffered punishments for our sins, and had satisfied God. (John 6:51, 55-56; 1 Cor. 10:16-17)

An Orthodox Catechism: Question 83

Again, we see this similar language in the Baptist Catechism.

Q. 102: What is the Lord’s Supper?
A. The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ; wherein by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to His appointment, His death is shewed forth, and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of His body and blood, with all His benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. (Matt. 26:26-28; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; 10:16)

The Batpist Catechism: Question 102

stainless steel container on white table

“To Faith Thy Flesh Is Meat Indeed”


We do not have to only look to Baptist confessions to appreciate their understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Baptist Hymns have some of the richest lyrics concerning the Lord’s Supper. Joseph Stennett (1663 – 1713), a Seventh-Day English Baptist, was a hymn writer who wrote many hymns, most of which were about the Lord’s Supper. Isaac Watts praised Stennett’s hymns and included them in his hymnal. Here are just a few stanzas from some of Stennet’s hymns.

“Sing Hallelujah to our King,
Who nobly entertains
His Friends with Bread of Life, and Wine
That flow’d from all his Veins.

His Body pierc’d with numerous Wounds,
Did as a Victim bleed;
That we might drink his sacred Blood,
And on his Flesh might feed. …

We feed on Christ, and sup with him;
At Table he presides
As ruler of the Feast, his share
To every Guest divides.”

– Stennett, Hymns, 23 (hymn 19, stanza 1-2, 5)

“Here may our Faith still on Thee feed,
The only Food Divine;
To Faith thy Flesh is Meat indeed,
Thy Blood the Noblest wine.”

– Stennett, Hymns, 19 (hymn 16, stanza 4)

Baptists have always rejected Christ’s physical presence in the Supper, whether with or through the elements. Historically, Baptists refused to have a carnal or fleshly view of the Supper, and yet to them, the Supper was something much more than just a memorial. To have fellowship (koinonia) in the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16) by partaking in the Supper means that we are spiritually communing with Christ and receiving all His benefits.

Koinonia of the blood and body of Christ means spiritual nourishment is brought to souls. It is present participation in the present benefits of Christ’s death for those properly partaking. In other words, the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace… Communion or sharing is not horizontal, but vertical in 1 Corinthians 10:16. Since believers already have communion with Christ via faith (1 Cor. 1:9), the Lord’s Supper must be viewed as a means to nurture what is already possessed… Though it is not a converting ordinance, the Supper is a sanctifying ordinance. Like the Word of God and prayer, it is a means through which grace comes to us from Christ. It is not a means of special grace, but a special means of grace.”

– Richard C. Barcellos [5]

Conclusion

Baptists used to be united on this issue. Today, most Baptist churches have drifted to a memorialist view of the Supper and have by and large ignored their Baptist heritage. If church history shows anything it shows that Christians cared deeply about these issues and were willing to divide over them. I believe this is a good thing. The ordinances of the New Covenant are indeed worth getting right and worth dividing over if observed wrongly. For Baptists, this concept is engrained into our DNA. Baptists have always desired to hold to the right understanding and practice of baptism and according to history, they cared just as much about the Lord’s Supper.

Works Cited

[1] “Transubstantiation” is the view of the Lord’s Supper held by Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, which states that during the Eucharist the elements (bread and wine) are miraculously transformed into the physical body and blood of Christ. This miracle is performed by the priest and is total in its effect. The bread completely and entirely is changed into the body of Christ, and likewise with the wine. During the Eucharist, there is no property of bread or wine in the elements, but they have been fully transformed into the body and blood of Christ. This would differ from Lutherans in their view of consubstantiation.

[2-3] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 4.17.10, Translated by Henry Beveridge, (Hendrickson Publishers, LLC, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2008), 901.

[4] John Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, Volume 8 (Paris, AR: The Baptist Standard Bearer, Inc., 1810, Reprinted 1989), 676.

[5] Richard C. Barcellos, The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace: More than a Memory, (Christian Focus Publications, Scotland, 2013), 53.