Protestant Polities^ Religion^ and AmericannPublic Life by Mark Nolln”Every sect is a moral check on its neighbor. Competitionnis as wholesome in religion as in commerce. “n—Walter Savage LandornUnsecular America, edited bynRichard John Neuhaus, GrandnRapids: Eerdmans; $8.95.nLess Than Conquerors: HownEvangeUcals Entered the TwentiethnCentury by Douglas W. Frank,nGrand Rapids: Eerdmans; $14.95.nWhen English Protestants fledntheir native land during Mary’snreign, many of them ended up in JohnnCalvin’s Geneva. Additional refugeesnfound a home in other Reformed citiesnin southwestern Germany. Lutherannlands, by contrast, were far less hospitablento these English Protestants. Internalntheological strife following thendeath of Martin Luther in 1546, asnwell as political and military reversesnin the struggle against the Holy RomannEmperor, Charles V, had left thenLutherans shaken and divided. Theynprobably could not have offered asylumnto the English, even had theynwanted to.nWhen the refugees returned to Englandnat the start of Elizabeth’s reign,nthey brought back positive impressionsnof the Reformed cities. John Knox, thenScottish reformer who had earlier contributednto Protestant efforts in England,nsaid of Calvin’s Geneva that itnwas “the most perfect school of Christnthat ever was in the earth since thendays of the Apostles.” Other Britonsndid not express their enthusiasm sonextravagantly, but the warm welcomenthey had received from European Calvinistsncertainly influenced their ownnattitudes. As a result, the more advancednor “thorough” English Protestantsnstrove for the same sort of reformsnin England they had witnessed on thenContinent. At least for these morenself-conscious Protestants, England’snearlier theological eclecticism gavenMark Noll is professor of history atnWheaton College.nway to patterns more consistently Reformed.nThe long-term ramifications of thisnhistorical episode have been immense.nReformed models from the Continentninspired the English Puritans in theirnstruggle to carry out a further reformationnof England and her church.nThese same Reformed models werenalso exported to the New World by thenPuritans who founded Massachusettsnand Connecticut and also exerted ancompefling influence elsewhere in thenAmerican colonies. Their presencenhas loomed large in the whole coursenof American civilization. This explainsnwhy Lutheranism, which wasnthe first Protestantism, has had littleninfluence on the Protestant civilizahonnnnof the United States.nOn narrow theological grounds, thisnmeans little. The long history ofnLutheran-Calvinist controversy hasnconcerned details. In the universe ofnpossible theologies, Luther and Calvinnstand quite close to each other. Bothndrew heavily upon Augustine, bothnstressed the debilities of sinful humannnature, both exalted the power of Godnand the work of Christ as central fornhuman salvation, and both read thenBible as a book of God’s promises tonrescue an undeserving humanity. Itnwas not theology that separated thenLutherans and the Reformed as muchnas culture.nBut on cultural matters, the differencesnwere large and important. Howevernmuch attention Luther gave tonholiness of life, the center of hisnthought remained the redeeming crossnof Christ. However much Calvinnpreached the cross, his message constantiynreturned to sanctified living.nSEPTEMBER 1987 133n