Martin Bucer: Opera Latina, Volume 6. De vera et falsa caenae dominicae administratione (1546)

Martin Bucer's De vera et falsa caenae dominicae administratione marks the collapse of his hopes for a negotiated settlement of the Reformation in Germany. He completed the work in March 1546 as fresh negotiations between Catholic and Protestant theologians reached an impasse in Regensburg, as the second session of the Council of Trent was meeting, and as Charles V prepared to make war on the Protestant League of Schmalkalden. At one level the work deals with the church's authority to regulate the celebration of the Lord's Supper, but at a more fundamental level it challenges moderate Catholics such as the humanist scholar Bartholomaeus Latomus to decide whether their ultimate loyalties lie with pope and council or with Christ and his Gospel.

“Thompson should be commended for this book, which brings needed attention to Bucer’s Latin work on the Eucharist … This book will be useful to scholars, informing our understanding of Bucer’s arguments about the Eucharist and offering a clearer picture of all factors contributing to his increasing doubt that accommodation could be reached. Moreover, it clarifies Bucer’s position on the important question of the patristic church, and how he interpreted this model.” Michael S. Springer, University of Central Oklahoma. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 68, No. 4 (Winter 2015), pp. 1460-1461.

Nicholas Thompson gained his PhD in Ecclesiastical History from the University of Glasgow in 2000 and lectured in Church History at the University of Aberdeen from 2001-2009. Since 2009 he has lectured in Church History at the University of Auckland. His first book Eucharistic Sacrifice and Patristic Tradition in the Theology of Martin Bucer appeared in 2005.