Blog 233: 4.18.14 - 4.18.20

Calvin had studied Plato - no friend to Christianity - and is amused how accurately he depicted (in the Republic) the antics of medieval priests in celebrating the Mass - preying on the innocent and uneducated by fooling them into believing nonsense through magical "hocus pocus" conjuring tricks with bread and wine.

In gospel-shaped dynamics, the Lord's Supper falls into the category of indicative-imperative: the Supper is a way of saying "thank you," an act of gratitude for grace already received. It is not to be viewed as performance of duty obliging God to act differently toward our sins - the cycle of self-justification that is pandemic in the natural (religious) man.

Baptism and the Supper are the two sacraments established by Christ in the church - one, an initiatory sign and seal, the other a confirming, discipling memorial of thanksgiving; both of which point to Jesus Christ alone as the way of salvation, "the cleanness of God's mysteries is but polluted when man adds anything of his own" [4.18.20].