John William Baier's
                       _Compendium of Positive Theology_
                          Edited by C. F. W. Walther
                                 Published by:
                  St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1877 


         [Translator's Preface. These are the major loci or topics of        
         John William Baier's _Compendium of Positive Theology_ as ed-
         ited by Dr. C. F. W. Walther. These should be seen as the
         broad outline of Baier-Walther's dogmatics, but please don't
         assume that this is all. Each locus usually includes copious
         explanatory notes and citations from patristics and other
         Lutheran dogmaticians.]


       Chapter Eleven

       On the holy supper.

       1. Another New Testament sacrament follows baptism, which we call
       the Lord's Supper.

       2. The principal efficient cause of this sacrament is Christ, who
       instituted the sacrament and ordered it to be frequent, and he
       does this up to this time, so that the action about the external
       symbols, according to the administration of his command, have the
       reason and force of a sacrament.

       3. The impulsive internal cause of this instituted sacrament is the
       goodness and love of Christ towards his; the external is the merit
       of his suffering and death. Especially as far as the administration
       of the supper has the real prseences of the body and blood of
       Christ wherever it may be, the same institution of Christ has the
       principal reason of the impulsive cause; the lesser principal
       impulsive cause is the consecration of the elements, done by the
       minister according to the institution of Christ.

       4. The ministerial cause is the regular minister of the church, who
       consecrates the external elements and distributes them to the
       communicants.

       5. The material of the holy supper is two-fold, earthly and
       heavenly.

       6. The earthly materials are true bread and true wine, as far as
       the substance; the bread either unleavened or leavened, and either
       finer or softer or more coarse, either the common or the usual;
       not only wheat bread, but also of other grains. Also red wine is
       used in like manner or white, and it may be either undiluted or
       diluted a little with water.

       7. However the bread and wine have the reason of matter in the holy
       supper, as far as they are dispensed and accepted, chewed and drunk.

       8. The heavenly material of the holy supper is the true and
       substantial body, likewise truly the substance of the blood of
       Christ, the former with the bread, the latter with the blessed wine
       is sacramentally united, thus that the body of Christ with the
       bread and the blood of Christ with the wine truly and really are
       dispensed and by all the communicants equally the body is accepted
       by the mouth, the former is chewed, and the latter is drunk.

       9. The form of the supper consists in the words of institution.

       10. The end to whom, or the subject, the ones being admitted to
       participation in the holy supper, are Christian humans, who are
       able to test themselves.

       11. To all those who are admitted to communion at the holy supper,
       both blessed symbols ought to be given wholly.

       12. The end of which, which is also the fruit or effect of this
       sacrament, and it the intermediate, is (1.) the remembrance and
       commemoration of the death of Christ, which is accomplished by
       faith; (2.) the seal of the promise about the forgiveness of sins,
       and the confirmation of our faith; (3.) our grafting into Christ
       and a spiritual nourishment towards faith; (4.) the mutual love of
       the communicants, and more similar things. The ultimate end is the
       eternal salvation of the communicants.

       13. It is possible to define the sacred supper as a sacred action
       instituted by Christ, in which the  body of the same is given with
       the blessed bread to be chewed, and whis blood is given with the
       blessed wine to be drunk by Christian communicants, and from this
       both are accepted, the body is chewed with the bread, the blood is
       drunk with the wine, in commemoration of the death of Christ, the
       seal of the forgiveness of sins and the confirmation of faith to
       life eternal.




       _________________________________.__________________________________ 
                                       
       This text was translated by Rev. Theodore Mayes and is copyrighted         
       material, (c)1996, but is free for non-commercial use or distribu-
       tion, and especially for use on Project Wittenberg. Please direct 
       any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther
       Library at Concordia Theological Seminary.

                         E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu

           Surface Mail: 66000 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA
       Phone: (260) 452-2123                           Fax: (260) 452-2126
       _________________________________.__________________________________ 






       file: /pub/resources/text/wittenberg/baier: cpt-3-11.txt
       .