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Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin

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Whether or not you have encountered the work of John Williamson Nevin, Keith Mathison, Ronald Wallace, or Robert Letham on recovering the Calvinistic view of the Lord's Supper, you definitely want to add this too your reading list if you are at all willing to be challenged from a Reformed perspective. While I can't speak for Gerrish's personal theological commitments, his honesty, even-handedness, and thoroughness make this an essential work, whether as a first book or as follow-up and further reflection.

Gerrish tackles the controversies surrounding Calvin's view of the Lord's Supper by showing that his theology is "eucharistic" from beginning to end. For Calvin, God is a fountain of all good so that the sum of piety is living by grace and gratitude. God is a loving Father and the Gospel is a message of free adoption. Adoption naturally leads us into a household where we ae fed at the family table having been received in baptism (this is way over-simplifying due to brevity; Gerrish's gift is in bringing out real themes while admitting complexity in the data).

I can't recommend this enough and am gratified (no pun intended) that this work is back in print. Take advantage of it. If this is the first time you've become acquainted with the Protestant heritage regarding the Lord's Supper, consider moving on to the other writers mentioned above. Some are Evangelicals and some are not, but all are worth reading for what they expose us to in our Evangelical heritage.

The true religion of Christianity is exemplified by the cardinal tenets of grace and gratitude which B.A. Garrish incitefully recognized in the writings of both Calvin and St. Augustine before him. All good things are derived from God the Father, the author and fountain of goodness itself, who graciously created us and then redeemed us through faith in Christ alone. We acknowledge God in gratitude for his gracious justification of us as unworthy sinners. All praise be to God!

A group is using this for a book discussion. It was just what I ordered, arrived quickly, and in perfect shape.