Calvin and his Lutheran Opponents

Abstract

This chapter traces the debates between Calvin and two of his Lutheran opponents, Joachim Westphal and Tilman Hesshus, on the question of the omnipresence and life-giving character of Christ’s body. All sides in the dispute agree that that Christ’s body is life-giving, and thus that Christ’s human nature is the subject of distinctively non-natural properties. They disagree with each other on the way in which this life-giving power is exercised: either by co-location with the effect (the Lutherans), or by immediate action at a distance (Calvin). But while Westphal affirms bodily omnipresence, Hesshus denies it. Neither Westphal nor Hesshus accept the reason offered by Brenz for accepting the genus maiestaticum (namely, that it is necessary for the hypostatic union). They accept the genus maiestaticum simply on the basis of Scriptural interpretation.