Communion Contested; Luther and Karlstadt on 1 Corinthians 10

Abstract: Karlstadt was one of the first reformers who challenged Luther's theology of the Lord's Supper. His insistence that the sacrament was an act of remembrance prompted Luther to emphasize the physical presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper. Due to the exegetical nature of the controversy, this study examines their respective readings of 1 Cor. 10:16 in detail, through Luther's Against the Heavenly Prophets and Karlstadt's Explanation from early 1525. While their sacramental theologies were often considered diametrically opposed, the present analysis attempts to balance this view by examining their exegetical assumptions and rhetorical strategies. Considering the reception of this controversy, it becomes apparent that some of the exegetical arguments of the later conflict between Wittenberg and the Swiss Reformers are already present in this early sacramental controversy.