Calvin S Catholic Christology

Calvin's eucharistic doctrine has been approached in the past from the standpoint of his polemic with the Lutherans and the Zwinglians, but Father McDonnell believes that Calvin’s primary position was determined by his rejection of Roman Catholicism. The author, therefore, explores Calvin’s eucharistic doctrine through a comprehensive analysis of his stand against the Roman Catholic Church. Introductory chapters are devoted to the broader currents of pre-Reformation thought: Scotist tradition, devotiomoderna, humanism, and the Platonic renewal. The study continues with a discussion of St. Augustine, the medieval disputants, and the doctrines of Calvin’s contemporaries-Luther, Bucer, and Melanchthon. The final chapter considers the relevancy of Calvin’s objections to Catholic eucharistic doctrine and their relation to modern developments in Catholic sacramental thought. Originally published in 1967. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The so-called extra Calvinisticum-the doctrine that the incarnate Son of God continued to exist beyond the flesh-was not invented by John Calvin or Reformed theologians. If this is true, as is almost universally acknowledged today, then why do scholars continue to fixate almost exclusively on Calvin when they discuss this doctrine? The answer to the “why” of this scholarly trend, however, is not as important as correcting the trend. This volume expands our vision of the historical functions and christological significance of this doctrine by expounding its uses in Cyril of Alexandria, Thomas Aquinas, Zacharias Ursinus, and in theologians from the Reformation to the present. Despite its relative obscurity, the doctrine that came to be known as the “Calvinist extra” is a possession of the church catholic and a feature of Christology that ought to be carefully appropriated in contemporary reflection on the Incarnation.

The revival of interest in the Protestant Reformation in the mid-twentieth century was marked by several studies of John Calvin. J.F. Jansen, however, noted that these had shed new light on almost every aspect of his thought except that which lies at the heart of his theology - the doctrine of Christ's work. In Calvin's Doctrine of the Work of Christ, Jansen corrects this omission, providing a fresh study of Calvin's work in this area with special reference to his exegetical writings. Besides critiquing Calvin's development of the doctrine, he also examines the traditional theological formula of the three offices of Christ as prophet, priest and king. Reacting against the return to this formula by contemporary theologians such as Emil Brunner, he shows that an alternative conception of Christ's work is possible.

The coherence of this volume arises from the way in which John Calvin serves as the centering focus of various disciplines and scholarly approaches that touch on the life of the church. Its five sections convey a wide range of interests among the contributors: Calvin and his times, theology, ecclesiology, interpretation of Holy Scripture, and worship and preaching.