G. Sujin Pak examines the appeal to the authority of the prophets and the interpretation of prophetic literature by the first and second generations of Lutheran and Reformed theologians. Pak makes two central claims throughout the book: first, that the reformers’ appeal to the prophet and prophecy placed the word of God in scripture above every authority in the church, since the prophet's sole responsibility is to deliver the word of God entrusted to him or her (29); and second, that the interpretation of prophecy strengthened and clarified the distinct confessional identities that developed between the Lutheran and Reformed traditions into the seventeenth century (32).

The first part of the book examines the way the role of the prophet and prophecy informs the way Luther, Zwingli, Bucer, and Zell develop their understanding of the “priesthood of all believers.” Pak persuasively argues that Paul's description of prophecy in the Church in Corinth (1 Cor. 14) directly informed the way the first-generation reformers spoke about the priesthood of all believers, as it empowered all believers not only to pray for one another, but also to preach, teach, and interpret the word of God in scripture, and to judge the preaching and teaching of others (36). Pak shows how both men and women quickly embraced the new power that the reformers credited to them, not only by publishing pamphlets, but also by disrupting worship services when they thought the pastor or priest was not preaching the true word of God in scripture.

Pak also tells the familiar tale of how the rise of figures who appealed to the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, over and above the written word of scripture, as well as those who appealed to scripture to support the Peasants’ War, led Luther, Zwingli, Bullinger, and Calvin to drastically modify their earlier understanding of the role of prophecy among ordinary believers. Whereas previously the figure of the prophet was seen as applying to every believer, after 1525, the reformers limit the prophetic office to teachers and pastors, for only they have the knowledge and authority to teach and preach the word of God. Pak includes Calvin in this restricting move, but it is clear from his commentary on 1 Corinthians 14 that Calvin thinks that it is a good thing for there to be prophets in the congregation over and above the pastors and thinks that the pastors should be grateful for their presence, as even Moses had wished that all Israelites could be prophets. Moreover, although Pak is correct in claiming that Luther takes away the power of ordinary believers to teach and preach in public, he never takes away their ability to read scripture for themselves and to judge all doctrine on the basis of what they read, for only in this way will they be able to defend the truth of their faith when the devil attacks them on their death-beds. And Calvin never takes away the right and duty of all Christians to read scripture for themselves, and to teach others when the opportunity presents itself.

Pak then turns her attention to the way prophecy informs the reformers’ understanding of the pastor and teacher. She rightly points out the way Luther and subsequent Lutheran theologians understand the role of the prophet as setting forth the clear distinction between the :aw and the Gospels, and the proper doctrine of justification by faith. The Reformed, on the other hand, see the role of the prophet as interpreting the law of God. However, Pak does not go on to analyze what the Reformed meant by the law of God, or how the prophets interpreted that law. Unlike the Lutherans, who see the primary purpose of the law as revealing sin, the Reformed see the law as revealing Christ in accommodation to the more limited capacities of the people of Israel. This is a crucial difference, and it is puzzling why Pak does not explore this issue.

The book concludes with a discussion of the ways Lutherans and the Reformed interpreted prophetic literature itself. She finds that the Lutherans see the literal meaning of prophecy as being the way it clearly sets forth the person and work of Christ, including the events of his passion, whereas the Reformed seek the meaning of prophecy in its historical context, and apply the meaning of that prophecy more broadly not only to Christ, but also to the Church throughout history. The Reformed are also much more comfortable with the way prophets use metaphorical figures of speech, whereas the Lutherans favor their literal statements, likely reflecting the different interpretations of the Lord's Supper in the Reformed and Lutheran traditions.

One major area left unexplored by Pak is the way Luther and Calvin appealed to the prophets to come to an understanding of the crisis of their own age and to a temporary solution to that crisis. The crisis involved their claim that Christ had abandoned the visible church to fundamental error. In order to account for this, the reformers went back to Israel before the exile to Babylon, when the word of God left the established authorities of prophets, priests, and kings. They understood their own age as being analogous to the return of the Israelites from Babylonian captivity and saw as their task the rebuilding of the church that the papacy had brought to ruin. They appealed to the prophets, who were directly called by God, to explain the legitimacy of their own ministry, for many of them, including Calvin, lacked ordination by bishops, and so seemed to be self-called as pastors and teachers. Pak notes this issue in her sources, but never highlights it in her book, even though it is crucial to the way they appeal to the role of prophets.