The Lord’s Supper In The Reformation Era

Martin Luther insisted that Christ's body and blood are really present in the Eucharist. On the other hand, the Swiss and South German Reformers, who initiated what became the Reformed tradition, believed Christ was present only symbolically in the minds and hearts of those participating in the Eucharist. Between these two positions, John Calvin later insisted on a real but wholly spiritual presence of Christ. All Protestant Reformers accented the role of preaching and insisted that lay people receive both bread and wine. The medieval combination of eucharistic piety and abuse set the stage for the radical reevaluation for the Eucharist by those in the sixteenth century who sought a reformation of the church. The Reformers' concern with the centrality of the Word of God and their insistence on justification through faith alone and the priesthood of all the baptized put the Eucharist at the center of Reformation debate. In "An Open Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation…