' (.) her mastery of historical theology here is evident.(.) in Becker's version of this story, a Lasco's more loving, communal and even "democratic" church gave way over forty years to a more punitive and hierarchical one. Even those hesitant to accept this clear dichotomy will appreciate her reminder that ecclesiological forms, liturgical practices, and even basic theology were all still very much in flux within confessions, even though scholars often adopt static definitions of these confessions when discussing them in relation to their rivals.(.) One implication of Becker's fascinating study is that a Lasco's ecclesiology constituted "the reformation of the refugees" as a distinct phase of Reformation history. In its focus on congregational activism, voluntarism, and the equality of all church members, a Lasco's vision fit well the needs of refugee churches, which often began clandestinely and whose members found themselves reliant on each other and without a cadre of well-trained leaders.

Once Reformed Protestants established public churches, however, they adopted a state-sponsored church system that, while still showing traces of a Lasco's influence, was much more like the system that developed in Geneva.(.) Becker's book offers a persuasive range of evidence that traces the rise of an increasingly uniform Reformed confession or rather, inversely, the corresponding decline of a viable alternative. 'Jesse Spohnholz, H-German .