THE REAL PRESENCE.
In the afternoon of the third day they passed to the second thesis, affirming that Jesus is the only pontiff. As no one raised an objection, even in favor of the pope, which was a very significant fact, they went on to the third proposition, respecting the true Church. That Church, it was said, Christ, who in his corporal presence has been taken away from us, fills, governs, and vivifies by his Holy Spirit. The Roman Catholics took advantage of the thesis to turn the discussion on the corporal presence. Blancherose, who was always confident that he could answer everything, rose first, and began to speak of the sun and of all sorts of things. He undertook to prove the doctrine of transubstantiation by the example of an egg, which is converted into a chick, which chick is afterwards eaten by a man. Viret did not think that strange argument deserving of a very grave answer. ‘That proof,’ he said, ‘reverses the order of things. To make it applicable, it would be necessary for the priests to sit on the object transformed, as hens sit on their eggs.’ Blancherose, having offered other instances of the same kind, was invited to carry on the discussion by the Scripture, and not by proofs taken from the sun, which is everywhere at once, from hens, from their eggs changed into chicks, and from chickens which are eaten, and from other natural transformations.
On Thursday, October 5, in the morning, the presidents, offended by the extravagances of the doctors, and perceiving that the method till then pursued would entail digressions and interminable prolixity, announced that, instead of resuming the debate, and with the hope of shortening the proceedings, the following alternative would be offered to all canons, abbots, priors, monks, curés, and vicars in the whole country, as well as to the ministers: ‘Argue, get some one to argue for you, or subscribe the theses.’ All were then called by name, and those who declared themselves willing to subscribe passed into the choir. Megander, a minister of Berne, exhorted them to preach nothing but the pure Word of God, and after that they were allowed to withdraw if they wished. But those who declined to adhere to the theses were ordered to remain to the close of the disputation.
In the afternoon, Mimard appeared with a long manuscript of his own composition, intended to vindicate the mass. The subject was treated under thirteen heads, which did not seem to promise much for shortening the business. Mimard was, at any rate, a serious speaker, although a little dull and rather prolix. ‘Do you pretend,’ he said, ‘to be wiser and more enlightened by the Holy Spirit than the holy doctors, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, and St. Gregory, who all believed in the real presence? If you reject them as unlearned, it is merely because they are opposed to you.’ Farel replied on the thirteen heads, without omitting one of them. What was said by each of the two champions may easily be imagined. The subject has already been so frequently brought forward that it is needless to spend more time over it now. But there was present in the assembly one young theologian, who rejoiced to hear his friends defending the true doctrine, and who by reason of his youth and his modesty had been kept silent till that time. It was Calvin. For four days he had sat there without speaking, contenting himself with the part of a hearer. But he had a brave heart. That Ambrose, that Augustine, those other doctors, he was well acquainted with them. He knew their words by heart. They were his friends, and he could not stand by and see them insulted by being ranked with the pope’s army. He could not be silent any longer; his heart burnt within him, and he felt impelled to defend the principles which were brought to light by the Reformation. But he wished also to restore to those great men of Christian antiquity, and above all to his beloved Augustine, the honor which was due to them. This was the first occasion on which Calvin took part in any of the great discussions of the time, and it is worth while to listen to him.
SPEECH OF CALVIN.
‘I have abstained from speaking till this moment,’ he said, ‘and it was my intention to abstain to the end, perceiving that any speech of mine was unnecessary, because my brethren Farel and Viret have made sufficient reply. But the reproach which you have uttered against us with regard to the ancient doctors compels me to show again briefly how grievously you err in accusing us on this point.
‘We despise them and reject them altogether, you say, and that because we find them opposed to our cause. Verily, all the world, we own, might esteem us not only rash men, but arrogant beyond measure, if we held in derision such servants of God, and considered them asses, as you say we do. Those who make pretence of holding them in great reverence, frequently honor them less than we do, and would not deign to employ in reading their works the time which we gladly devote to it. But we do not exalt their authority to such a height as to allow it to lessen the dignity of the Word of the Lord, to which, exclusively, entire obedience ought to be given in the Church of Christ. We should fear being found rebels against that Word of the Lord which asks whether his people ought not to be content with his voice, and which adds, without hearing either the living or the dead. Yes, we do rest in his sacred Word, and we fasten on it our hearts, our understandings, our eyes, our ears, without turning aside to the right hand or to the left. If any one speak, says Peter, let him speak as the oracles of God; we therefore teach the people of Jesus not human doctrines, but heavenly wisdom. With the ancient doctors, we seek for God’s truth, with them we listen to it and keep it with all reverence, reserving to the Lord this glory, that his mouth alone be opened in the Church, to speak with authority. Let every ear then hear him, and let every soul be ready to obey him!
‘As to your assertion that we despise the fathers because they are not on our side, it would be easy for me to show that whatever matters are in controversy between us, that assertion is no more true than your reproach. But, to confine myself to the subject before us, I will lay before you only a small number of passages of such a character that there will be nothing left for you to reply to.’
Calvin had not with him the voluminous works of the fathers; but his memory was a library abridged. Tertullian, Chrysostom, and the writers of his time, especially Augustine, came immediately to his aid. ‘Tertullian,’ said he, ‘when refuting Marcion, speaks thus, “Christ in the supper has left us the figure of his body.” The author of the commentary on St. Matthew, contained in the works of Chrysostom, says, “It is a far greater offence to defile ourselves, who are the true vessels in which God dwells, than to profane the vessels in which the supper is administered, since that the real body of Jesus Christ is not contained in them, but only the mystery of his body.” St. Augustine, in his twenty-third Epistle,[401] says, “The bread and the wine, which are sacraments of the body and blood of Christ, we call them in a certain sense (quodammodo) his body and his blood.” And in his book against Adimantus, he adds, “The Lord did not hesitate to say, This is my body, when he gave the sign of his body.” Weigh all these words, every syllable of them if you will, and see whether these declarations in any way favor your error. When you taunt us with the charge that the ancients are against us, everybody sees your rashness. Assuredly, if you had read only a few pages you would not have been so bold; but you have not even seen the covering of the book. The foregoing testimonies, which may easily be pointed out, prove it.’