Survey of Lord's Supper From Early Church to John Calvin

Having looked at much of the Biblical witness to the Supper, we now turn to historical considerations. None of us approach the Table in an historical vacuum. We all have imbibed perspectives of those who have gone before us. In this class, we survey the perspectives of the early church on the Supper down to the time of John Calvin in the 16th century. The early church understood the Supper in light of Mal 1:10,11 & defined it as being a sacrifice offered to God by the church. Thus a sacramental view became dominant by the Middle Ages when Thomas Aquinas applied Aristotlian concepts to the Supper & differentiated between the "substance" & the "accidents" of the elements - thereby establishing the categories for the heresy of "transubstantiation". Martin Luther begain to question Rome's teachings on the Supper & entered into a discussion with Ulrich Zwingli. John Calvin attempted to propose a mediating perspective that validated much of what Luther said & was sensitive to Zwingli. The issue that came to the fore was the presence of Christ at the Supper. Calvin's perspectives best align with Scripture &, as we'll see, were confessed in ensuing Confessions & Creeds by the Reformed churches which emerged out of the Reformation.