As I understand this article, it says Calvin believed that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father. His was a bodily resurrection, and after that resurrection was an ascension to the throne of God.
Therefore, Calvin might say, the bread and wine are not little pieces of Jesus, because Jesus is at the right hand of God. Yet, Calvin took seriously that statement of Paul that we PARTICIPATE in the body and blood of the Lord.
Calvin said that Christ is “really...spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves to their outward senses.”
By faith, Jesus is SPIRITUALLY present. To Calvin, the Spiritual was the ultimate Reality, because God is Spirit, and God is Real.
By outward sense I am in the flesh a sinful man. By Spiritual sense I am a child of the Living God.
By faith, Jesus is SPIRITUALLY present. To Calvin, the Spiritual was the ultimate Reality, because God is Spirit, and God is Real.
By outward sense I am in the flesh a sinful man. By Spiritual sense I am a child of the Living God.
So...Christ is really present, but only spiritually? So physically eating the bread, if you are a true believer, allows you to Spiritually eat His Body? Not 100% sure I'm following - the bread is separate from Him, I think I get that, but He is inextricably linked to the bread in the hands of a true believer?