Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
History and Religion
Eucharistic Real Presence & François Turretin

Eucharistic Real Presence & François Turretin

Last updated on: June 13, 2026 at 1:06 pm by Dave Armstrong

0 Comments

Eucharistic Real Presence & François Turretin 2026-06-13T13:06:29-04:00 Dave Armstrong

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Calvinist Hyper-Rationalism vs. the Biblical Teaching of Twenty Kinds of God’s Presence

This is the transcript of the main presentation (minus all of the discussions) in the video from myself and Kenny Burchard on Catholic Bible Highlights, called, “How Can Bread and Wine Be the Presence of Jesus? The Bible Has the Answer!” (5-23-25). His words are in blockquotes below, time-stamped to the video, so you can find each one.

*****

François Turretin (1623-1687) is widely considered by Reformed Protestants to be their best theologian and apologist after John Calvin himself. I cite his most important work, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Vol. 3, 19th Topic: The Sacraments / 28th Question: The Corporeal Presence of Christ in the Supper . . ., from the translation of George Musgrave Giger, edited by James T. Dennison, Jr. (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company: 1992, 1994, and 1997). We’re using RSV for Bible verses. Turretin states:

It is impossible for Christ’s body to be made present to us at this day corporeally and indistantly, since he can die no more); . . .

This is simply not impossible at all for God to do. Nothing forbids it, for those who grant miracles, the supernatural, and God’s omnipotence. Turretin assumes it but doesn’t prove it. Again, he thinks like the Pauline “unspiritual man.” His God is “too small.” This is no more impossible than God becoming a man, or God subsisting in three Persons, yet being one God and not three.

Part of the problem is that Turretin, like many Calvinists, and some — but not most — other Protestants are what is called “cessationists”: the remarkable view that miracles ceased occurring after the apostolic age. This disbelief in continuing miracles wasn’t based on the Bible (where, of course, it is never taught), but rather, upon anti-Catholic polemics; not exactly an indisputable criterion of belief in anything.

In the same volume 3, Turretin affirms:

“miracles are accidents and extraordinary gifts which were given to the church only for a time, not always”

(18.13.43). Obviously, if one is already hostile to miracles under false and unbiblical pretenses, then one will be disinclined to accept miracles at every Church gathering, which is what occurs in the Catholic Mass. This outlook precludes a supernatural Eucharist or anything else, even before we discuss any given thing. It’s a Christianity gutted of miracles and made hostage to hyper-rationalism.

But as we will see, there are all sorts of types of divine presence in the Bible that are miraculous. Turretin proclaims:

He who departed in body from the earth and left the world that he might betake himself to heaven where he is to remain until the restitution of all things; who is sought in vain on earth where he no longer is; and must be sought in heaven, where he sits at the right hand of God, cannot be said to be carnally present in the sacrament. . . . It is repugnant to the words of Christ, . . . how can he be said to leave the world and to be raised up into heaven, if he as yet remains perpetually on earth?

This doesn’t follow because he is basically comparing apples and oranges. There are at least twenty major types of divine presence described in the Bible: ten involving physicality and ten in an immaterial sense. Most are so well known and accepted that we need not even provide Bible references.

Immaterial Divine Presence

1) God is omnipresent. Jesus, in His Divine Nature, is described in the Bible as omnipresent as well

2) God can be and was specially present in empty spaces (e.g., the temple, tabernacle, and above the mercy seat on top of the ark of the covenant).

3) God was “with” the victorious armies of the Israelites (Jud 6:16) and with holy men like Moses and Joshua.

4) God was present in sublime visual scenes, such as described by Isaiah, Daniel, and St. John (Is 6:1-7; Dan 7:1-10; Rev 1:12-16).

5) God was specially present in — even to the point of being equated with — the Angel of the Lord.

6) God indwells believers. The Bible says this interchangeably about all three Persons of the Holy Trinity. Once again, God is “in” physical matter (us).

7) We are continually working towards being united to God in the sense of theosis / divinization:

2 Corinthians 3:18 . . . we all, . . . are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another . . .

Ephesians 4:15 . . . we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

2 Peter 1:4 . . . you may . . . become partakers of the divine nature.

8) Jesus’ disciples are “in Christ”. [91 times in the NT]

9) Jesus’ disciples are “in the Father” (1 Jn 2:24), and (the same thing) “in him” (Acts 17:18; 1 Jn 2:5; 3:6).

10) Jesus’ disciples are “in the Holy Spirit” [6 times] and “in the Spirit”. [19 times]

But the Bible goes beyond that, and refers to at least ten types of:

Divine Presence Involving Physicality

11) God can be and was present in a special way in matter (the burning bush when He appeared to Moses, and in the pillars of cloud and fire in the wilderness). he Bible even describes the Israelites as worshiping God in the pillar of cloud:

Exodus 33:10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the door of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, every man at his tent door.

A cloud, of course, is a physical thing, composed of water molecules. God was so “present” in this cloud that He was worshiped in it (much like consecrated hosts in the Eucharist).

12) God was present in what is called “theophanies” in the Old Testament: physical manifestations of God before the birth of Christ. So, for example, the Bible states that “Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day” (Gen 32:24). Then Jacob says, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved” (32:30). This had to be a physical encounter, since the text says that God “touched the hollow of” Jacob’s “thigh” which was “put out of joint” (32:25). Many Protestants think these theophanies were appearances of Jesus.

13) God became a man, Jesus, in the incarnation (Jesus’ 33 years or so of earthly life).

14) Jesus was present for forty days as the incarnate God the Son risen from the dead, with a resurrected body capable of walking through walls (Jn 20:19, 26).

15) Jesus will be physically present in His glorified post-Ascension state when He returns in the Second Coming.

16) So we believe that Jesus is also present sacramentally (a different sort of miraculous physicality) in the Holy Eucharist.

17) We’re mysteriously united to Jesus in His death and resurrection in baptism:

Romans 6:3-5, 8 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. [5] . . . we have been united with him in a death like his, . . . [8] . . .we have died with Christ, . . .

18) We’re united in a profound sense to Jesus’ death and resurrection on an ongoing basis:

2 Corinthians 4:10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

Philippians 3:10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me . . .

19) St. Paul said that “in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col 1:24) and “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).

20) Jesus is somehow connected to His Church, the Body of Christ; so much so that He told Paul that he was persecuting Him when he was persecuting the Church (Acts 9:4-5; 22:7-8; 26:14-15).

Yet a little later, Turretin wrote:

The union which exists between us and Christ is nowhere said to be corporeal, but spiritual and mystical, which can be brought about in no other way than by the Spirit and faith (1 Cor. 6:17; Eph. 3:17).

This is untrue, since #17-20 above (especially #19) refer to mysterious but literal corporeal aspects of our union with Jesus. All of this proves by analogy and cumulative effect that eucharistic Real Presence is altogether possible, if not plausible and likely. If we are to become one with God (deification) and begin that process in this life, then Holy Communion is one profound way that we do that on an ongoing basis in this life.

Related Video / All My Videos

Why Catholics are 100% Right about John 6 [Catholic Bible Highlights, 58 minutes, 3-5-25]

My Videos Page (Catholic Bible Highlights / Lux Veritatis)

My Related Article

Reply to François Turretin #14: Eucharist, Pt. 2 [3-1-25]

My Books About the Holy Eucharist, John Calvin, & Calvinism

Biblical Catholic Eucharistic Theology (Feb. 2011, 222 pages)

Biblical Catholic Answers for John Calvin (2010, 388 pages)

A Biblical Critique of Calvinism (2012, 178 pages)

Biblical Catholic Salvation: “Faith Working Through Love” (2010, 187 pages; includes biblical critiques of all five points of “TULIP”)

My Web Pages About the Holy Eucharist, John Calvin, Calvinism, & Francis Turretin

Eucharist, Sacrifice of the Mass, & Liturgical Issues

John Calvin: Catholic Appraisal

Calvinism & General Protestantism: Catholic Critique

***

Practical Matters: I run the most comprehensive “one-stop” Catholic apologetics site: rated #1 for Christian sites by leading AI tool, ChatGPT — endorsed by popular Protestant blogger Adrian Warnock. Perhaps some of my 5,000+ free online articles or fifty-six books have helped you (by God’s grace) to decide to become a Catholic or to return to the Catholic Church, or better understand some doctrines and why Catholics believe them. If you believe my full-time apostolate is worth supporting, please seriously consider a much-needed monthly or one-time financial contribution. “The laborer is worthy of his wages” (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV).

PayPal donations are the easiest: just send to my email address: [email protected]. Here’s also a second page to get to PayPal. You’ll see the term “Catholic Used Book Service”, which is my old side-business. To learn about the different methods of contributing (including Zelle and 100% tax-deductible donations if desired), see my page: About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong / Donation Information.

You can support my work a great deal in non-financial ways, if you prefer; by subscribing to, commenting on, liking, and sharing videos from my two YouTube channels, Catholic Bible Highlights and Lux Veritatis, in partnership with Kenny Burchard (see my own videos), and/or by signing up to receive notice for new articles on this blog. Just type your email address on the sidebar to the right (scroll down quite a bit), where you see, “Sign Me Up!” Thanks a million!

***

Summary: If you’ve ever heard someone say “Jesus can’t be physically present in the Mass,” this video (and transcript) flip the script using Scripture (twenty passages), logic, and history.

Calvinism & General Protestantism

Institutes of Elenctic Theology

sacramentalism

transubstantiation

Previous Post

September 12, 2025

Goliath's Height: Can We Determine It?

Next Post

September 16, 2025 Bible on Divorce, Remarriage, & Annulments

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Special pleading, and not a serious response to my arguments . . ."

Dave Armstrong

Is Venerating Men & Angels Worship? ..."

""no man needs to teach us."Didn't you just teach us?"

Dave Armstrong

Is Venerating Men & Angels Worship? ..."

""Catholics say they are the only church that can lead people into heaven."In fact, we ..."

Dave Armstrong

Is Venerating Men & Angels Worship? ..."

"And lastly, I belong to no denomination and am free to serve God as He ..."

Mariah

Is Venerating Men & Angels Worship? ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category & Last Things About Me Anti-Catholicism Atheism & Agnosticism Baptism and Sacramentalism Bible and Tradition Blessed Virgin Mary Books by Dave Armstrong C. S. Lewis Calvinism & General Protestantism Catholic Apologetics Catholic Apologists Catholic conversion Catholic converts Christmas Church (Ecclesiology) Church History Conversion and Converts Development of Doctrine Eastern Orthodoxy Ecumenism & Christian Unity Eucharist & Liturgy Fathers of the Church French Translations G. K. Chesterton Hell Hell & Satan Hell & Satan & Last Things Heresies & Comparative Religion Holistic Health Inquisition & Crusades & Scandals James White Jews & Judaism & Old Testament John Calvin John Henry Newman Liberal / Modernist Theology Life Issues Literary Resume Lutheranism Mariology Martin Luther Music Orthodoxy Papacy & Infallibility Personal Page Philosophy & Science Political & Ethical & Moral Issues Protestant Persecution & Intolerance Protestantism Purgatory Purgatory & Penance Romantic & Imaginative Theology Saints & Purgatory & Penance Salvation Salvation & Justification Satan & Last Things Sexuality and Gender Issues Spanish Translations Traditionalism vs. Radical Catholic Reactionaries Traducciones al español / tradução para português Trinitarianism & Christology Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 April 2010 March 2010 December 2009 October 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 March 2009 February 2009 October 2008 September 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 October 2005 June 2005 April 2005 February 2005 July 2004 May 2004 April 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz