With this monograph, Scheuers, lecturer in history at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, CA, offers a revision of his PhD dissertation. He aims to examine “the complex relationship between oathtaking, confessional subscription, and the binding of the conscience in John Calvin’s reform” (p. 1). In the introduction, he argues that “an assessment of people’s thoughts about conscience” (p. 2) in the Reformation era is essential for exploring his thesis. Given this, he sees John Calvin as an appropriate conversation partner since Calvin had been “accused” by sympathizers and opponents “of burdening … consciences with extra-Scriptural statements of faith composed by human authorities” (p. 4).

This work is divided into three sections. The first (ch. 1) places Calvin and his contemporaries in the context of their inherited legal tradition. The second section (chs. 2–4) gives attention to various case studies “in which ecclesiastical and civil leaders faced conscientious objections to their oath-driven tactics for reform” (p. 11). The third section (chs. 5–7), in turn, focuses on “the practice of oathswearing and confessional subscription among diverse sectors of Calvin’s Geneva through the early seventeenth century” (p. 11).

With the first chapter, Scheuers draws attention to the fact that Christian humanists of the fifteenth century were not concerned with developing new theories of conscience, preferring instead to adapt earlier models (starting with Augustine, with further development by medieval theorists) to their distinct aims. While Matthew 5 and James 5 seem to rule out oaths, Augustine and medieval thinkers following after him argued that “Scripture did not forbid oaths simpliciter, but only the immoderate use of oaths,” which would result in “swearing falsely” (p. 18). From this concern emerged the distinction between “licit and illicit oaths” (p. 19), which proved to be more complex in practice than theory. Additionally, while Augustine considered matters of indifference or adiaphora to fall “outside of the scope of … conscience” (p. 34), for Aquinas and his Reformational heirs, adiaphora was put in connection with charity, placing the importance of another’s spiritual well-being over freedom regarding adiaphora.

Chapter 2 surveys public reform in Strasbourg from 1530–1535. Scheuers draws attention to the charge by some that the Reformers were injuring the individual conscience of some of Strasbourg’s citizens. This led to the insistence by Reformers that all consciences were subject to “the word of God that they preached” (p. 71) and that coercive pressure from civil authorities “to promote reform” was commensurate with their “God-ordained duties” (p. 71). Scheuers notes that the civil authorities were less dismissive of these concerns than the Reformers.

Chapter 3 examines “the critical question” of whether Nicodemism—i.e., external adherence to Catholic practice while privately dissenting—“necessarily violated the dictates of conscience” and, therefore, “genuine piety” (p. 75). The issues raised by Nicodemism highlighted the differences between Strasbourg, with Bucer, and the French Reformation of Calvin and Farel; namely, the former was less inclined to condemn Nicodemism as a violation of conscience and piety than the latter. Chapter 4 explores Calvin’s later anti-Nicodemist writings, placing him in conversation with Viret, Farel, and Vermigli. The author shows how each of these Reformers saw Nicodemism not as adiaphora but as a violation of conscience since it is not “subjective feeling and experience” but rather “God’s word,” which is the final judge of conscience (p. 107).

Chapters 5–7 explore how Calvin’s strident views took shape during his reforming efforts in Geneva and the period following. Discussing the Genevan Reform of 1536–1538, the author argues that the Reformers posited a third alternative beyond adherence to Scripture and rejection of impious (i.e., Catholic) traditions; that is, traditions which promoted godliness and “right order of the church” (p. 165), even if absent from Scripture, was considered to be derived from God. Chapter 6 discusses “discipline cases” in Geneva upon Calvin’s return, giving attention to “Consistory records” to gain an understanding of “the perceived relationship between oaths and the conscience” (p. 170). Chapter 7 surveys how similar issues were handled at the Genevan academy from 1559–1612, with the author finding that the weight and significance of oaths and confessional subscriptions were significantly diminished after Calvin.

There are several commendable aspects of this work. First, Scheuers’s monograph-length exploration of conscience, oaths, and confessional subscription among Calvin and his contemporaries fills a gap that was lacking in the scholarly literature on Calvin’s reforming efforts. This, in turn, gives us a clearer window into the complexity that attended the reforming movement as a whole as well as specific reforming efforts, since the question of ecclesiastic authority and conscience is the bedrock of Luther’s Reformation and arguably still the primary issue that stands in the way of unity between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. This study draws our attention to the fact that Calvin’s articulation of these issues was received from prior tradition, which points to considerable nuance regarding the intellectual history of the Reformation. Additionally, Scheuers’s trenchant textual analysis of confessions, letters, and records bolsters our sense of the results, achievements, and diversity of the Reformation. Finally, the author’s focus on Calvin’s early engagement with Nicodemism clarifies our picture of Calvin by demonstrating that his theology was fairly settled early in his career. This work is worth reading for any serious student of ecclesiastic authority and its relationship to Christian freedom, or Calvin’s understanding thereof.

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