1536–1563

Calvin and the Reformed doctrine of the sacraments: sign and seal, spiritual presence

Calvin defined a sacrament as an outward sign by which the Lord seals on the conscience the promises of His good will to sustain weak faith; against Zwingli and the Anabaptists he affirmed the efficacy of the sacraments by the power of the Spirit, against Rome the distinction between the "figure" and the "truth." Sign and thing signified are distinct but inseparable ("distinctio sed non separatio"): receiving the sign of the body, the believer receives the body itself. The body of Christ is not locally present – it is in heaven, but by the power ("virtue") of the Spirit the believer is united with it; this is called "virtualism." According to González, Calvin's teaching took shape as a mediating position marked by Bucer's influence; in 1549 Calvin and Bullinger reached the Zurich Consensus, which the Lutherans did not accept, and the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) expressed this teaching in catechetical form.