John Calvin's view of the Lords Supper?

Answer 1

Calvin tried to avoid what he considered two major errors. First, that the wine and bread were supernaturally turned into the essence of the body and blood of Jesus (Roman Catholic belief) and second that the Supper was a memorial to someone who died a long time ago. Therefore, he emphasized that the Lord's Supper was a remembrance of Christ, held in obedience to Christ's command, and that the risen Christ is fully present with the celebrants and that they do receive spiritual nourishment from Him through this sacrament.

From Wikipedia (see link)

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Calvin defined a sacrament as an earthly sign associated with a promise from God. He accepted only two sacraments as valid under the new covenant: baptism and the Lord's Supper (in opposition to the Catholic acceptance of seven sacraments). He completely rejected the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and the treatment of the Supper as a sacrifice. He also could not accept the Lutheran doctrine of sacramental union in which Christ was "in, with and under" the elements. His own view was close to Zwingli's symbolic view, but it was not identical. Rather than holding a purely symbolic view, Calvin noted that with the participation of the Holy Spirit, faith was nourished and strengthened by the sacrament. In his words, the eucharistic rite was "a secret too sublime for my mind to understand or words to express. I experience it rather than understand it."

Answer 2

Luther believed that "This is my body, this is my blood" should be interpreted literally as meaning that Christ's body and blood were present in the sacrament "in, with, and under" the bread and wine. He saw the sacrament as a means of grace that strengthened the partaker's faith. This is officially known as the "Real Presence".

However, this is distinct from the doctrine of Transubstantiation taught in the Roman Catholic Church, in which it is believed that the bread and wine undergo a complete physical transformation into the actual body and blood of Christ.

Answer 3

Calvin's view of the Lord's Supper holds that Christ is present in the Lords's Supper, but not physically or bodily. Rather, his presence in the sacrament is spiritual or dynamic.