"Thomas J. Davis continues to demonstrate why he is one of the leading interpreters of Calvin's theology of the Eucharist working today. Davis does a wonderful job of setting Calvin's understanding of the Supper in the context of Luther's teaching on the subject. By so doing, he opens a promising avenue of ecumenical understanding. Davis is especially to be commended for focusing our attention on the centrality of the life-giving flesh of Christ in Calvin's understanding of salvation. This is a clear and accessible collection of essays that should be of interest to a wide audience."--__Randall C. Zachman__, University of Notre Dame  
  
"The topic of this book has often been dealt with and yet Davis comes with new insights and a balanced position to convey the sacramental issue of the sixteenth century in a very accessible style. Dr. Davis has with this book done a great service to both the scholarly world and the church."--__Herman J. Selderhuis__, Institute for Reformation Research, Apeldoorn  
  
"This Is My Body offers fresh insight into the eucharistic theology of the sixteenth century. Its essays highlight the centrality of Christ's presence for the reformers while exploring their different understandings of that presence. Professor Davis approaches Calvin's understanding of the Lord's Supper from a variety of angles, paying careful attention to the Genevan reformer's language. He draws on Calvin's sermons, commentaries, and treatises, as well as on successive editions of the Institutes, to illustrate aspects of Calvin's thought that have often been overlooked. Church historians, theologians, and pastors will all find something of value in this book."--__Amy Nelson Burnett__, University of Nebraska-Lincoln  
  
"Ever since Luther wrote 'This is my body' on the table at Marburg, theologians and historians of theology have been trying to trace the various levels of signification in the deceptively simple affirmation that Christ is present in the Eucharist. Thomas Davis's new work offers some of the most insightful and imaginative ways into the set of problems while never pretending to 'solve' the paradoxes inherent in this central Christian affirmation."--__R. Ward Holder__, Saint Anselm College

__Thomas J. Davis__ (PhD, University of Chicago) is professor of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. He is the author of six books, including The Clearest Promises of God: The Development of Calvin's Eucharistic Teaching, and has produced dozens of scholarly articles and presentations.

There are many general surveys of the Reformation available, and they all typically devote some space to how theologians such as Martin Luther and John Calvin understood the Lord's Supper and Christ's presence in the bread and wine. However, they usually do not provide a great deal of detail about the development of the Reformers' thoughts or the finer elements of their respective opinions.  
  
This volume by Thomas Davis fills these gaps with a more narrowly focused study. He devotes several chapters to Luther and to Calvin, examining their use of language and their understanding of the presence of Christ, both in the Lord's Supper and in the broader sense of his presence in the church.

A Reformation scholar provides a much-needed historical perspective on the presence of Christ in the theology of Luther, Calvin, and other Reformers.

Introduction   
1\. "His Completely Trustworthy Testament": The Development of Luther's Early Eucharistic Teaching, 1517-1521   
2\. "The Truth of the Divine Words": Luther's Sermons on the Eucharist, 1521-1528, and the Structure of Eucharistic Meaning   
3\. "An Intermediate Brilliance": The Words of Institution and the Gift of Knowledge in Calvin's Eucharistic Theology   
4\. Not "Hidden and Far Off": The Bodily Aspect of Salvation and Its Implications for Understanding the Body in Calvin's Theology   
5\. Preaching and Presence: Constructing Calvin's Homiletic Legacy   
6\. Reflections on a Mirror: Calvin's Preaching on Preaching (Deuteronomy 5)   
7\. "He Is Outwith the World . . . That He May Fill All Things": Calvin's Exegesis of the Ascension and Its Relation to the Eucharist   
8\. The Communication of Efficacy: Calvin's 1 Corinthians Commentary and the Development of the Institutes   
9\. Discerning the Body: The Eucharist and the Christian Social Body in Sixteenth-Century Protestant Exegesis   
10\. Hardened Hearts, Hardened Words: Calvin, Beza, and the Trajectory of Signification

Davis, Thomas J.

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. “His Completely Trustworthy Testament”: The Development of Luther’s Early Eucharistic Teaching, 1517–1521

2. “The Truth of the Divine Words”: Luther’s Sermons on the Eucharist, 1521–1528, and the Structure of Eucharistic Meaning

3. “An Intermediate Brilliance”: The Words of Institution and the Gift of Knowledge in Calvin’s Eucharistic Theology

4. Not “Hidden and Far Off”: The Bodily Aspect of Salvation and Its Implications for Understanding the Body in Calvin’s Theology

5. Preaching and Presence: Constructing Calvin’s Homiletic Legacy

6. Reflections on a Mirror: Calvin’s Preaching on Preaching (Deuteronomy 5)

7. “He Is Outwith the World . . . That He May Fill All Things”: Calvin’s Exegesis of the Ascension and Its Relation to the Eucharist

8. The Communication of Efficacy: Calvin’s 1 Corinthians Commentary and the Development of the Institutes

9. Discerning the Body: The Eucharist and the Christian Social Body in Sixteenth-Century Protestant Exegesis

10. Hardened Hearts, Hardened Words: Calvin, Beza, and the Trajectory of Signification

Notes

Index

There are many general surveys of the Reformation available, and they all typically devote some space to how theologians such as Martin Luther and John Calvin understood the Lord's Supper and Christ's presence in the bread and wine. However, they usually do not provide a great deal of detail about the development of the Reformers' thoughts or the finer elements of their respective opinions. This volume by Thomas Davis fills these gaps with a more narrowly focused study. He devotes several chapters to Luther and to Calvin, examining their use of language and their understanding of the presence of Christ, both in the Lord's Supper and in the broader sense of his presence in the church.

Thomas J. Davis (PhD, University of Chicago) is professor of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. He is the author of six books, including The Clearest Promises of God: The Development of Calvin's Eucharistic Teaching, and has produced dozens of scholarly articles and presentations.

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