the _Formula of Concord_ in order thoroughly to purify the Lutheran
Church from Reformed errors concerning the Lord's Supper and the person
of Christ, which after Luther's death had wormed their way into some of
her schools and churches, especially those of Electoral Saxony, and to
make her forever immune against the infection of Calvinism
(Crypto-Calvinism)--a term which, during the controversies preceding the
_Formula of Concord_ did not, as is generally the case to-day, refer to
Calvin's absolute decree of election and reprobation, but to his
doctrine concerning the Lord's Supper, as formulated by himself in the
_Consensus Tigurinus_ (Zurich Consensus), issued 1549. The subtitle of
this confession reads: "Consensio Mutua in Re Sacramentaria Ministrorum
Tigurinae Ecclesiae, et D. Iohannis Calvini Ministri Genevensis
Ecclesiae, iam nunc ab ipsis autoribus edita." In this confession,
therefore, Calvin declares his agreement with the teaching of Zwingli as
represented by his followers in Zurich, notably Bullinger. Strenuous
efforts were made by the Calvinists and Reformed everywhere to make the
_Consensus Tigurinus_ the basis of a pan-Protestant union, and at the
same time the banner under which to conquer all Protestant countries,
Lutheran Germany included, for what must be regarded as being
essentially Zwinglianism. The _Consensus_ was adopted in Switzerland,
England, France, and Holland. In Lutheran territories, too, its teaching
was rapidly gaining friends, notably in Southern Germany, where Bucer
had prepared the way for it, and in Electoral Saxony where the
Philippists offered no resistance. Garnished as it was with glittering
and seemingly orthodox phrases, the _Consensus Tigurinus_ lent itself
admirably for such Reformed propaganda. "The consequence was," says the
_Formula of Concord_, "that many great men were deceived by these fine,
plausible words--_splendidis et magnificis verbis_." (973, 6.) To
counteract this deception, to establish Luther's doctrine of the real
presence of the body and blood of Christ, and to defend it against the
sophistries of the Sacramentarians: Zwinglians, Calvinists, and
Crypto-Calvinists--such was the object of Articles VII and VIII of the
_Formula of Concord_.

197. John Calvin.

Calvin was born July 10, 1509, in Noyon, France. He began his studies in
Paris, 1523 preparing for theology. In 1529 his father induced him to
take up law in Orleans and Bourges. In 1531 he returned to hi