Restoring Christ's Church: John Lasco and the Forma ac ratio (review)

John a Lasco (1499–1560) was a Polish-born aristocrat groomed for an ecclesiastical career in the Church of Rome. When he was denied a bishopric because of political questions relative to his family and the Hapsburgs, he left Poland and returned to university life. Following his return to the university, Lasco became a Protestant sometime around 1540–41. By 1542, he had accepted an appointment as superintendent of the East Frisian church. Though the church was formally Lutheran, Lasco's leadership leaned Reformed. In 1550, following the collapse of the Schmalkaldic League and the establishment of the Augsburg Interim by Charles V, Lasco was removed from his position as superintendent. He left Frisia for England, where later in the year he became superintendent of the newly established Strangers' Church. During his time in London, he began to write a detailed explanation of how a true church ought to be organized and how it ought to correctly worship. If Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion explained what a Christian ought to believe, Lasco told them what to do.

Michael S. Springer, in this revision of his St. Andrews University dissertation, examines the result of Lasco's work, his 1555 Forma ac ratio tota Ecclesiastici Ministerii. The Forma ac ratio was perhaps the longest church ordinance or order published in the sixteenth century, running nearly 600 folio pages. Because it played a role in organizing the Strangers' Church in London as well as churches on the Continent it was also influential. One would think, then, that it has been exhaustively studied. That is not the case, and thus Springer is to be thanked for this initial study of the document. After a brief biographical sketch of Lasco's life, Springer begins his discussion of the Forma by discussing the genre of Kirchenordnungen during the sixteenth century. Springer uses the pursuit of unity to frame his discussion of church orders. For Springer, church orders were a response by civil and church authorities to religious discord and disunity.

In the third chapter, Springer discusses the origins of the London Strangers' Church and Lasco's role in its leadership. Because the Strangers' Church had refugee members from across Europe, they brought with them many different opinions about how a church ought to be organized and function. At the same time, they faced opposition from hostile locals and clerics. Given this scenario, it is not hard to imagine why or how Lasco began work on the Forma. His parishioners needed a clear explanation of what they believed and why they worshiped the way they worshiped. In other words, the Forma probably began life as an adult Christian education document for his local church. This origin explains the Forma's practical nature. The fourth chapter examines the organization, leadership, and nature of the true church in the Forma. At just sixteen pages, however, the chapter left this reader wishing for more depth and analysis. The discussion of the Marks of the Church, for example, is far too brief. The Marks of the Church became a commonplace loci for theological discussion during the Reformation. Lasco's marks build on earlier definitions given by Luther and Calvin but also expand upon them and alter them to a degree. Since the aim of the book is to explicate the Forma, something as important as the nature of the true church and how to recognize it deserved more attention. Chapters 5 and 6 examine Lasco's discussion of worship and discipline within the true church. The book ends with a discussion of the Forma's influence within Europe.

Springer is to be thanked for recovering from the dusty shelves of evangelical theology such an important and influential work. Those seeking to understand early Protestant worship, church order, or even pastoral care will find much of value...