VI

The political events which overthrew the monarchy and set up the commonwealth led to the prohibition by the State of the use of the Prayer Book and to the establishment of new methods of worship. The Westminster Assembly of Divines was summoned in accordance with an ordinance of Parliament in 1643. The episcopalians appointed on this Assembly did not attend its meetings; of the puritans, the presbyterian element was the most influential, though there were also representatives of the Independents and some members of Erastian tendencies. The work of the Assembly which concerns the Eucharist may be seen in the parts of the Confession of Faith, the Shorter Catechism, and the Larger Catechism which relate to this subject. The Confession of Faith, with some omissions not affecting the present subject, was approved by the English Parliament in 1648 and 1660; it was adopted by the General Assembly of the Scottish Presbyterian Church in 1647 and approved by the Scottish Parliament in 1649 and again in 1690. The Catechisms were approved by the English Parliament in 1648, by the General Assembly of the Scottish Presbyterian Church in 1648, and by the Scottish Parliament in 1649. With these may be compared the Directory for the Public Worship of God throughout the Three Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, to which the Westminster Assembly and the Scottish General Assembly agreed in 1644, the use of which instead of the Book of Common Prayer was ordered by the English Parliament in 1645. All these documents afford illustrations of the fact that the extreme form of Zwinglianism, according to which the Eucharist is only a badge or token, was still a discredited view even among those by whom, if by any, it might be anticipated that it would be held. The Eucharistic doctrine which they contain closely resembles that of Calvin.

The chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith entitled “Of the Lord’s Supper” is as follows:—

“1. Our Lord Jesus in the night wherein He was betrayed instituted the Sacrament of His body and blood called the Lord’s Supper to be observed in His Church unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Himself in His death, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto Him, and to be a bond and pledge of their Communion with Him, and with each other, as members of His mystical body.

“2. In this Sacrament Christ is not offered up to His Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the quick or dead, but only a commemoration of that one offering up of Himself by Himself upon the cross once for all, and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same, so that the popish sacrifice of the Mass, as they call it, is most abominably injurious to Christ’s one only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect.

“3. The Lord Jesus hath in this ordinance appointed His ministers to declare His word of institution to the people, to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants, but to none who are not then present in the congregation.

“4. Private Masses, or receiving this Sacrament by a priest or any other alone, as likewise the denial of the cup to the people, worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use, are all contrary to the nature of this Sacrament, and to the institution of Christ.

“5. The outward elements in this Sacrament duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ have such relation to Him crucified as that truly, yet sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ, albeit in substance and nature they still remain truly and only bread and wine as they were before.

“6. That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ’s body and blood (commonly called Transubstantiation) by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone but even to common sense and reason, overthroweth the nature of the Sacrament, and hath been, and is, the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries.

“7. Worthy receivers outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this Sacrament do then also inwardly by faith really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ crucified and all benefits of His death, the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine, yet as really but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.

“8. Although ignorant and wicked men receive the outward elements in this Sacrament, yet they receive not the thing signified thereby, but by their unworthy coming thereunto are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord to their own damnation. Wherefore all ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with Him, so are they unworthy of the Lord’s Table, and cannot without great sin against Christ, whilst they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries or be admitted thereto.”

In the Westminster Shorter Catechism there are the question and answer:—

“Question 96. What is the Lord’s Supper?

“Answer. The Lord’s Supper is a Sacrament wherein by giving and receiving bread and wine according to Christ’s appointment His death is showed forth, and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner but by faith, made partakers of His body and blood with all His benefits to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.”

The Westminster Larger Catechism expresses the same doctrine at somewhat greater length.

“Question. What is the Lord’s Supper?

“Answer. The Lord’s Supper is a Sacrament of the New Testament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine according to the appointment of Jesus Christ, His death is showed forth; and they that worthily communicate feed upon His body and blood to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace, have their union and communion with Him confirmed, testify and renew their thankfulness and engagement to God, and their mutual love and fellowship each with other, as members of the same spiritual body.”

“Question. How do they that worthily communicate in the Lord’s Supper feed upon the body and blood of Christ therein?

“Answer. As the body and blood of Christ are not corporally or carnally present in, with, or under the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, and yet are spiritually present to the faith of the receiver no less truly and really than the elements themselves are to their outward senses, so they that worthily communicate in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper do therein feed upon the body and blood of Christ not after a corporal or carnal but in a spiritual manner, yet truly and really, while by faith they receive and apply unto themselves Christ crucified and all the benefits of His death.”

In the Directory for the Public Worship of God the minister is ordered—

“earnestly to pray to God, the Father of all mercies and God of all consolation, to vouchsafe His gracious presence and the effectual working of His Spirit in us; and so to sanctify these elements both of bread and wine, and to bless His own ordinance, that we may receive by faith the body and blood of Jesus Christ crucified for us, and so feed upon Him that He may be one with us and we with Him, that He may live in us and we in Him and to Him, who hath loved us and given Himself for us”;

and the instructions for the administration are as follows:—

“The elements being now sanctified by the word and prayer, the minister, being at the Table, is to take the bread in his hand, and say in these expressions (or other the like, used by Christ or His Apostle upon this occasion):—

“Accordinding to the holy institution, command, and example of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ I take this bread, and having given thanks I break it and give it unto you. (There the minister, who is also himself to communicate, is to break the bread and give it to the communicants.) Take ye, eat ye. This is the body of Christ, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Him.

“In like manner the minister is to take the cup, and to say in these expressions (or other the like used by Christ or the Apostle upon the same occasion):—

“According to the institution, command, and example of our Lord Jesus Christ I take this cup and give it unto you. (Here he giveth it to the communicants.) This cup is the New Testament in the blood of Christ, which is shed for the remission of the sins of many; drink ye all of it.”