[199] See the letters, pp. 143, 160. In a new message to Bullinger,
Calvin strove to dissipate the still lingering prejudices
entertained by the Zurich theologians against those of Geneva and of
Strasbourg, regarding the Sacraments; and he proposed the basis of
that union, long-desired, which was consummated the following year
between Zurich and Geneva. The Church of Berne, now deeply imbued
with Lutheran views, refused its adhesion.
New explanations regarding the Supper--Violence of some of the
Bernese ministers--Calvinism and Buceranism.
GENEVA, _26th June 1548_.
Your letter at length reached me, eight days after I had arrived
at home. Reust was not himself the bearer of it; it was brought by
Roset. The former, I suppose, was less solicitous about the delivery
of it, as he had found a master without our assistance. We both,
however, courteously placed our services at his disposal. With
regard to your small treatise to which you refer in your letter, I
wish, my Bullinger, as we were lately in your quarter, it had not
been troublesome to you and your colleagues to have talked together
in a quiet way of the whole matter. There would assuredly have been
some advantage in this; for I had not come prepared for a stage
display, which is not less disagreeable to myself than it is to
you, to say nothing of Farel, whose disposition you are also aware
is utterly averse from ostentation. But we were anxious to discuss
with you in a familiar way, and with not the least desire to engage
in formal debate, those points with regard to which we are most
nearly at one. And this indeed were the best method of procedure
among brethren, and one we should have found profitable, unless I
am greatly deceived. For with regard to the Sacraments in general,
we neither bind up the grace of God with them, nor transfer to
them the work or power of the Holy Spirit, nor constitute them the
ground of the assurance of salvation. We expressly declare that it
is God alone, who acts by means of the Sacraments; and we maintain
that their whole efficacy is due to the Holy Spirit, and testify
that this action appears only in the elect. Nor do we teach that
the sacrament is of profit, otherwise than as it leads us by the
hand to Christ, that we may seek in him whatever blessings there
are. I do not in truth see what you can properly desire as wanting
in this doctrine, which teaches that salvation is to be sought from
Christ alone, makes God its sole author, and asserts that it is
accepted only through the secret working of the Spirit. We teach,
however, that the sacraments are instruments of the grace of God;
for, as they were instituted in view of a certain end, we refuse to
allow that they have no proper use. We therefore say, that what is
represented in them, is exhibited to the elect, lest it should be
supposed that God deludes the eyes by a fallacious representation.
Thus we say, that he who receives baptism with true faith, further
receives by it the pardon of his sins. But lest any one should
ascribe his salvation to baptism as the cause, we at the same time
subjoin the explanation, that the remission flows from the blood of
Christ, and that it is accordingly conferred by baptism only in so
far as this is a testimony of the cleansing which the Son of God by
his own blood shed on the cross procured for us, and which he offers
for your enjoyment by faith in his gospel, and brings to perfection
in our hearts by his Spirit. Our opinion regarding regeneration is
precisely similar to that about baptism. When the signs of the flesh
and blood of Christ are spread before us in the Supper, we say that
they are not spread before us in vain, but that the thing itself is
also manifested to us. Whence it follows, that we eat the body and
drink the blood of Christ. By so speaking, we neither make the sign
the thing, nor confound both in one, nor enclose the body of Christ
in the bread, nor, on the other hand, imagine it to be infinite,
nor dream of a carnal transfusion of Christ into us, nor lay down
any other fiction of that sort. You maintain that Christ, as to his
human nature, is in heaven; we also profess the same doctrine. The
word _heaven_ implies, in your view, distance of place; we also
readily adopt the opinion, that Christ is undoubtedly distant from
us by an interval of place. You deny that the body of Christ is
infinite, but hold that it is contained within its circumference;
we candidly give an unhesitating assent to that view, and raise a
public testimony in behalf of it. You refuse to allow the sign to
be confounded with the thing; we are sedulous in admonishing that
the one should be distinguished from the other. You strongly condemn
impanation; we subscribe to your decision. What then is the sum
of our doctrine? It is this, that when we discern here on earth
the bread and wine, our minds must be raised to heaven in order to
enjoy Christ, and that Christ is there present with us, while we
seek him above the elements of this world. For it is not permitted
us to charge Christ with imposition; and that would be the case,
unless we held that the reality is exhibited together with the sign.
And you also concede that the sign is by no means empty. It only
remains that we define what it contains within it. When we briefly
reply, that we are made partakers of the flesh and blood of Christ
that he may dwell in us and we in him, and in this way enjoy all
his benefits, what is there, I ask, in these words either absurd
or obscure, especially as we, in express terms, exclude whatever
delirious fancies might occur to the mind? And yet we are censured,
as if we departed from the pure and simple doctrine of the Gospel.
I should wish, however, to learn what that simplicity is to which
we are to be recalled. When I was lately with you, I pressed this
very point. But you remember, as I think, that I received no answer.
I do not make this allegation so much by way of complaint, as that
I may publicly testify to the fact that we lie under the suspicion
of certain good men without any ground for it. I have long ago
observed, moreover, that the intercourse we have with Bucer acts as
a dead-weight upon us. But I beseech you, my Bullinger, to consider
with what propriety we should alienate ourselves from Bucer, seeing
he subscribes this very confession which I have laid down. I shall
not at present declare the virtues, both rare and manifold, by
which that man is distinguished. I shall only say, that I should do
a grievous injury to the Church of God, were I either to hate or
despise him. I make no reference to the personal obligations under
which I lie to him. And yet my love and reverence for him are such,
that I freely admonish him as often as I think fit. How much greater
justice will his complaint regarding you be judged to possess! For
he sometime ago complained that you interdicted youths of Zurich,
who were living at Strasbourg, from partaking of the Supper in that
church, although no confession but your own was demanded of them.
I indeed see no reason why the churches should be so rent asunder
on this point. But what is the reason that godly men are angry with
us, when we cultivate the friendship of a man who, by himself,
professes nothing that can stand in the way of his being received as
a friend and a brother? As the matter hinges on this, shew me, if
you can, that by my friendly intercourse with Bucer I am restrained
in the free profession of my views. I may perhaps seem to be so,
but I make the thing itself the test of the truth. Wherefore, let
us not be so suspicious where there is no call for it. As to the
other matters, when I had come to Lausanne I counselled the brethren
to send as soon as possible to Haller, for I had the hope they
would obtain from him all that was just; and in this expectation
I was not disappointed. Jodocus, however, and Ebrard,[200] what
brother of the giants I know not, who had been sent, were so grossly
violent in their invectives, that they were presently compelled to
betake themselves [home]. So great a source of indignation was my
proceeding to Zurich, as if, forsooth, I had no right to be affected
by the danger of a church so near us, or to seek a suitable remedy
in conjunction with the brethren. Jodocus said, in a threatening
way, that he knew what I had done when with you. I boasted, however,
that I had been a party to no transaction that was unworthy of my
reputation as an honourable man. But why should I recount to you
the insolence and scurrilities of both of them? Take this as the
sum of the matter, that the two brethren, both eminently learned,
grave, and judicious, were so astounded, that they thought it best
to make a seasonable departure. Such is brotherly clemency. It is,
however, worth while to make a brief statement, that you may form a
judgment of the matter from the beginning to the end. Immediately on
our first meeting, in place of salutation, it was asked, Who raised
these tragical commotions? When it was said, in reply, that they
were known to have proceeded from Zebedee, Ebrard exclaimed, 'Yes,
that good man is unworthily traduced by you, because he laid bare
your stratagems.' On the brethren requesting those stratagems to be
explained to them; 'We have,' he says, 'a Bernese disputation from
which we form our judgment of you and all your affairs.' I beseech
thee, my Bullinger, to say whether such is the case. What have we
profited by shaking off the tyranny of the Pope? Observe, also,
how suitable was the interrogation of Jodocus, who had asked me to
form one of the assembly at Lausanne? Finally, that the last part
of the proceedings might be of a piece with the first, the brethren
were ordered to go away, and have done with their Calvinism and
Buceranism. And all this with an impetuosity almost like madmen,
and outrageous clamours. Could you expect anything more unfeeling
or truculent from Papists? Though we may patiently tolerate this
intemperate Bacchantism, the Lord, nevertheless, will not suffer it
to pass unpunished. At Paris and in many parts of the kingdom, the
ferocity of the ungodly is inflamed afresh. The King himself holds
on in his fury. Thus is fulfilled the prediction, Without fightings,
within fears; although Jodocus excites not only fears within, but
open fightings. But may the very fewness of our numbers incite us to
an alliance!
[200] Ministers of the Church of Berne.
Adieu, most excellent and most honoured sir, along with your
colleagues, all of whom I desire you will respectfully salute in
my name. To your wife also, and your whole family, I send the best
greeting. May the Lord Jesus protect and direct you all. Amen.
Something is said about the state of Constance, not much fitted to
inspire gladness. May the Lord regard you, and rescue you from the
jaws of the lion.--Yours,