Researched by the Ignaria Editorial Team · Updated 2026-07-04
Luther and Calvin agreed that the medieval doctrine of transubstantiation needed reform and that the Lord's Supper is a genuine means of grace — yet they parted ways on how Christ is present. Luther's sacramental realism insisted that the body and blood of Christ are truly offered in, with, and under the bread and wine — "This is my body" taken as straightforward promise. Calvin affirmed a real spiritual participation in Christ but located Christ's body in heaven, maintaining that the Spirit unites believers to Christ's flesh without local presence in the elements. Their disagreement shaped the Lutheran-Reformed division on sacramental theology for centuries.
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What the primary sources show
"This is my body" — Luther's insistence on the literal force of Christ's words against any merely symbolic or commemorative reading of the Supper.
"The flesh of Christ is eaten when we receive the life which flows from it" — Calvin on spiritual participation without local bodily presence in the elements.