After Calvin had entered the controversy Westphal was joined by such
Lutherans as John Timann, Paul v. Eitzen, Erhard Schnepf, Alber, Gallus,
Flacius, Judex, Brenz, Andreae and others. Calvin, on the other hand,
was supported by Lasco, Bullinger, Ochino, Valerandus Polanus, Beza (the
most scurrillous of all the opponents of Lutheranism), and Bibliander.
In 1555 Westphal published three additional books: _Collection
(Collectanea) of Opinions of Aurelius Augustine Concerning the Lord's
Supper_, and _Faith (Fides) of Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, Concerning
the Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ_, and _Adversus cuiusdam
Sacramentarii Falsam Criminationem Iusta Defensio_, "Just Defense
against the False Accusation of a Certain Sacramentarian." The last
publication was a personal defense against the insults and invectives of
Calvin and a further proof of the claim that the Calvinists were united
only in their denial of the real presence of Christ in the Lord's
Supper. Coming to the support of Westphal, John Timann, Pastor in
Bremen, published in 1555: "_Medley (Farrago) of Opinions Agreeing in
the True and Catholic Doctrine Concerning the Lord's Supper_, which the
churches of the Augsburg Confession have embraced with firm assent and
in one spirit according to the divine Word."
In the following year Calvin wrote his _Secunda Defensio ... contra J.
Westphali Calumnias_, "Second Defense of the Pious and Orthodox Faith,
against the Calumnies of J. Westphal," a vitriolic book, dedicated to
the Crypto-Calvinists, _viz._, "to all ministers of Christ who cultivate
and follow the pure doctrine of the Gospel in the churches of Saxony and
Lower Germany." In it Calvin declared: "I teach that Christ, though
absent according to His body, is nevertheless not only present with us
according to His divine power, but also makes His flesh vivifying for
us." (_C. R._ 37 [_Calvini Opp_. 9], 79.) Lasco also wrote two books
against Westphal and Timann, defending his congregation at Frankfort,
and endeavoring to show the agreement between the Calvinian doctrine of
the Lord's Supper and the _Augsburg Confession_. In 1556 Henry Bullinger
appeared on the battlefield with his _Apologetical Exposition,
Apologetica Expositio_, in which he endeavored to show that the
ministers of the churches in Zurich do not follow any heretical dogma in
the doctrine concerning the Lord's Supper.
In the same year, 1556, Westphal published _Epistola, qua Breviter
Respondet ad Convicia I. Calvini_--"Letter in which He [Westphal]
Answers Briefly to the Invectives of J. Calvin," and "_Answer
(Responsum) to the Writing of John of Lasco_, in which he transforms the
_Augsburg Confession_ into Zwinglianism." In the same year Westphal
published "_Confession of Faith (Confessio Fidei) Concerning the
Sacrament of the Eucharist_, in which the ministers of the churches of
Saxony maintain the presence of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ in the Holy Supper, and answer regarding the book of Calvin
dedicated to them." This publication contained opinions which Westphal
had secured from the ministeriums of Magdeburg (including Wigand and
Flacius), of Mansfeld, Bremen, Hildesheim, Hamburg, Luebeck, Lueneburg,
Brunswick (Moerlin and Chemnitz), Hannover, Wismar, Schwerin, etc. All
of these ministeriums declared themselves unanimously and definitely in
favor of Luther's doctrine, appealing to the words of institution as
they read. In 1557 Erhard Schnepf [born 1595; active in Nassau, Marburg,
Speier, Augsburg; attended convents in Smalcald 1537; in Regensburg
1546, in Worms 1557; died 1558], then in Jena, published his _Confession
Concerning the Supper_. In the same year Paul von Eitzen [born 1522;
died 1598; refused to sign _Formula of Concord_] published his _Defense
of the True Doctrine Concerning the Supper of Our Lord Jesus Christ_.
Westphal also made a second attack on Lasco in his "_Just Defense
against the Manifest Falsehoods of J. A. Lasco_ which he spread in his
letter to the King of Poland against the Saxon Churches," 1557. In it he
denounces Lasco and his congregation of foreigners, and calls upon the
magistrates to institute proceedings against them.
Calvin now published his _Ultima Admonitio_, "Last Admonition of John
Calvin to J. Westphal, who, if he does not obey (_obtemperet_) must
thenceforth be held in the manner as Paul commands us to hold obstinate
heretics; in this writing the vain censures of the Magdeburgians and
others, by which they endeavored to wreck heaven and earth, are also
refuted" 1557. Here Calvin plainly reveals his Zwinglianism and says:
"This is the summary of our doctrine, that the flesh of Christ is a
vivifying bread because it truly nourishes and feeds our souls when by
faith we coalesce with it. This, we teach, occurs spiritually only,
because the bond of this sacred unity is the secret and incomprehensible
power of the Holy Spirit." (_C. R._ 37 [_Calvini Opp_. 9], 162.) In this
book Calvin also, as stated above, appeals to Melanchthon to add his
testimony that "we [the Calvinists] teach nothing that conflicts with
the _Augsburg Confession_."
Though Calvin had withdrawn from the arena, Westphal continued to give
public testimony to the truth. In 1558 he wrote several books against
the Calvinists. One of them bears the title: "_Apologetical Writings
(Apologetica Scripta) of J.W._, in which he both defends the sound
doctrine concerning the Eucharist and refutes the vile slanders of the
Sacramentarians," etc. Another is entitled: _Apology of the Confession
Concerning the Lord's Supper against the Corruptions and Calumnies of
John Calvin_. In 1559 Theodore Beza donned the armor of Calvin and
entered the controversy with his "_Treatise (Tractatio) Concerning the
Lord's Supper_, in which the calumnies of J. Westphal are refuted."
Lasco's _Reply to the Virulent Letter of That Furious Man J. Westphal_,
of 1560, appeared posthumously, he having died shortly before in Poland.