Brief Declaration of the Lord's Supper
Nicholas Ridley wrote this treatise while imprisoned in the Tower of London, facing execution for his Protestant convictions under Queen Mary's Catholic restoration. The former Bishop of Rochester and London composed it as both a personal statement of faith and a theological defense of Reformed eucharistic doctrine, knowing his words would soon be tested by martyrdom. Written in 1555, just months before his burning at Oxford alongside Hugh Latimer, the work represents Ridley's final systematic articulation of the sacramental theology that had cost him everything.
The treatise methodically dismantles the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation while establishing a Reformed understanding of Christ's presence in communion. Ridley argues that the bread and wine remain unchanged in substance while becoming signs and seals of spiritual realities, rejecting both Catholic claims of substantial transformation and Lutheran assertions of bodily presence. He distinguishes carefully between the sacramental eating of bread and wine and the spiritual receiving of Christ's body and blood by faith, insisting that the latter occurs not through priestly consecration but through the believer's faithful participation. Drawing extensively on patristic sources, particularly Augustine and Chrysostom, Ridley demonstrates that early church fathers understood communion spiritually rather than carnally, arguing that medieval scholasticism had corrupted primitive Christian practice with philosophical speculation about substance and accidents.
Ridley's declaration carries particular weight because it emerges from the crucible of impending martyrdom, lending moral authority to its theological arguments. His careful exegesis and patristic scholarship influenced subsequent Anglican eucharistic theology, helping establish the via media between Catholic and radical Protestant positions that would characterize the Church of England's sacramental doctrine. The work demonstrates how doctrinal conviction could sustain believers through extreme persecution, showing theological precision wedded to pastoral concern for those facing similar trials.
Who should read this: Students of Reformation theology and Anglican sacramental doctrine will find Ridley's arguments foundational, while those interested in martyrdom literature will appreciate how theological conviction sustained faith under ultimate pressure. This is not casual devotional reading but serious doctrinal discourse requiring familiarity with Reformation debates.