This book, divided into four parts, presents in English material previously published in three earlier books treating Melanchthon's view on penance, and Calvin's views on confession, church discipline and on the eucharist, as well as material from some lectures. This has resulted in some repetition, and un-evenness. At the heart of the book is the two reformers’ search for a balance between Gospel freedom and ‘Christian penitential confession’, or the practice of the imitation of Christ. Much of the book is concerned with Calvin's pastoral counselling and education at home, in the consistory and from the pulpit.

In order to place the work of Melanchthon and Calvin in context, an introductory chapter presents a short history of penance from The Shepherd of Hermas through to Luther's attack on late medieval theology and practice, and a second brief chapter examines humanity, freedom and the Church, briefly discussing Luther and Calvin on these topics. A chapter then compares and contrasts Thomas à Kempis's 1441 Devota exhortacio ad sacram communionem and Calvin's 1541 Petit Traicté de la saincte cene, though interspersed with discussions on Luther and Zwingli. Speelman demonstrates that both à Kempis and Calvin viewed the eucharist as a mysterious representation of Christ, and the aim of communion for both was union with Christ. In a subsequent chapter Speelman examines Melanchthon's concept of renewal by visitation and instruction, and in this the Elector played an important role, making a rupture with previous canon law. Melanchthon also contributed to a new evangelical understanding of penance, but his Articles of 1527 were fiercely criticised by Agricola who felt that they represented a departure from evangelical freedom. Melanchthon's influence on Calvin is also traced. A considerable portion of the book is devoted to examining Calvin's ideas of discipline and of being well-prepared for receiving communion. His convictions about the Lord's Supper and Christian living were thwarted by the failure of the Genevan magistrates to allow weekly communion. In 1537 the city decreased the celebrations in Geneva from twelve times a year to four. An excellent chapter once more discusses Calvin's Short treatise of the lord's supper. As with a number of studies from John Nevin onwards, Speelman observes that Calvin spoke of receiving the substance of the body and blood of Christ by those who worthily received, and that the goal of communion was the union of the believer with Christ. According to Speelman, Calvin regarded the sacrament as ‘like a tool’. In fact, that is not quite so. Calvin speaks of sacraments being ‘instruments’, in contrast to Bullinger who spoke of them as tools or implements (organa). Although in modern English the two words may not seem very different, Calvin and Bullinger were aware of a considerable difference in meaning, and Bullinger refused to use the term ‘instruments’.

This study fills in some interesting details on how Lutherans and Calvin replaced the older forms of penance with newer disciplines and instruction though with considerable repetition.