Thomas J. Davis, This Is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought.

Irwin, Joyce L.

Thomas J. Davis, This Is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. Pp. 203. $24.99, paper.

While there is plenty of evidence in this book that the author's affiliation and expertise is in the Reformed tradition, he is clearly motivated in this study of Reformation thinking on the eucharist to find common ground among the major Reformers. Moving beyond the catch phrases that are used in survey courses to explain the distinctions among the positions of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli, Davis studies the development and shifts in their thinking. As a result, Luther and Calvin (and, to a lesser extent, Zwingli) move out of the boxes where they have sometimes been placed into overlapping circles where they can meet.

The first two chapters follow Luther's writings from 1517 to 1528, revealing the different emphases from the communion of the saints in the early, more Catholic period through his insistence on bodily presence in the debate with Zwingli. Davis finds, however, that there is a consistent grounding of Luther's thinking in the Word and its promises and that this is at the root of his differences with Zwingli.

The remaining eight chapters focus primarily on Calvin from a variety of perspectives, the goal of which is to broaden the dominant view of Calvin by examining not just his Institutes but also his sermons and biblical commentaries. The final chapter, wherein Davis attempts to explain the stereotyping of Calvin through the shift toward literalism in the Renaissance, offers very interesting comparisons with art history, though the broad-stroke approach is more suggestive than persuasive.

That the book leaves the reader without a succinct, clear account of Calvin's eucharistic theology is due partly to the tensions in his thinking, which are described well in a chapter on the ascension and its relation to the eucharist, but also in part to the organization of the book. Almost all of the chapters were previously published or presented separately and were not reorganized to form a coherent, structured volume. Some of the chapters placed later in the book are better introductions to the subject than earlier chapters. Many aspects of Calvin's thought appear more than once in the book but, at least in the matter of the union of the faithful with Christ, are never thoroughly developed.

The work, in sum, is a collection of thoughtful and thought-provoking essays that will interest serious general readers, students, and scholars. Those who want to delve deeper into Calvinist theology will be richly assisted by the footnotes, in which Davis comments on the state of research on particular issues and includes viewpoints other than his own.

Joyce L. Irwin, Syracuse, NY