The Evolving Reputation Of Richard Hooker

"Richard Hooker has long been viewed as the first systematic defender of Anglicanism, as a via media between Roman Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism. In the last twenty years this traditional assumption has been increasingly challenged, however, and it has been argued that Hooker was a Reformed figure whose Anglican credentials are the invention of the Oxford Movement. Whilst the theological ambiguity of Hooker remains perplexing, it is clear that the seventeenth century, not the nineteenth, was responsible for the creation of his reputation as a leading Anglican father. Michael Brydon examines how, during a period of both religious and political consolidation, Hooker became both an authoritative figure and an Anglican emblem. He demonstrates how Reformed suspicions of Hooker, combined with a Catholic desire to exploit his perceived sympathies, helped secure his status as a distinctive English writer. This led to his subsequent adoption by the avant-garde churchmen and his enthronement at the Restoration, through Isaac Walton's biography, as the epitome of the Anglican identity. Unsurprisingly, the unfolding of contemporary crises led to some reappraisal of his standing. The Glorious Revolution meant that Hooker's previously unpalatable belief in an original political compact now came to the forefront and his vision of a national Church was replaced with an established one. Nevertheless, whilst the boundaries of Anglican comprehensiveness have expanded and contracted in response to particular situations, the belief that Hooker was the unparalleled guardian of the English Church has remained remarkably constant ever since."--BOOK JACKET.

Richard Hooker has long been viewed as one of England's great theological and political writers. When he died, however, at the end of the sixteenth century, his writings had proved to be something of a damp squib. This book examines, against the background of the political and religious crises of the seventeenth century, how he came to rise from comparative obscurity to be regarded as a universal authority. It will be seen how an unintended alliance of Reformed Protestants, suspicious of Hooker, and Catholics, anxious to exploit his perceived sympathies, led to his establishment as a distinctive, well-regarded English writer. Whilst the boundaries of Hooker's comprehensiveness have expanded and contracted in response to particular situations, the belief that he is an important writer has remained remarkably constant ever since.

The first major study to examine Richard Hooker's foundational contribution to Anglican moral theology in detail.

For more than forty years now there has been a steady stream of interest in Richard Hooker. This renaissance in Hooker Studies began with the publication of the Folger Library Edition of the Works of Richard Hooker. With this renaissance has come a growing recognition that it is anachronistic to classify Hooker simply as an Anglican thinker, but as yet, no generally agreed-upon alternative label, or context for his thought, has replaced this older conception; in particular, the question of Hooker's Reformed identity remains hotly contested. Given the relatively limited engagement of Hooker scholarship with other branches of Reformation and early modern scholarship to date, there is a growing recognition that Hooker must be evaluated not only against the context of English puritanism and conformism but also in light of his broad international Reformed context. At the same time, it has become clear that, if this is so, scholars of continental Reformed orthodoxy must take stock of Hooker's work as one of the landmark theological achievements of the era. This volume aims to facilitate this long-needed conversation, bringing together a wide range of scholars to consider Richard Hooker's theology within the full context of late 16th- and early 17th-century Reformed orthodoxy, both in England and on the Continent. The essays seek to bring Hooker into conversation not merely with contemporaries familiar to Hooker scholarship, such as William Perkins, but also with such contemporaries as Jerome Zanchi and Franciscus Junius, predecessors such as Heinrich Bullinger, and successors such as John Davenant, John Owen, and Hugo Grotius. In considering how these successors of Hooker identified themselves in relation to his theology, these essays will also shed light on how Hooker was perceived within 17th-century Reformed circles. The theological topics touched on in the course of these essays include such central issues as the doctrine of Scripture, predestination, Christology, soteriology, the sacraments, and law. It is hoped that these essays will continue to stimulate further research on these important questions among a wide community of scholars.

Richard Hooker explained and defended the Elizabethan religious and political settlement, and shaped the self-understanding of the Church of England for generations. This Companion offers a comprehensive and systematic introduction to Hooker’s life, works, thought, reputation, and influence.

For some, Hooker and Anglicanism are basically reformed; for others, fundamentally Catholic; for some embodying a 'middle way' between Roman Catholic and Protestant extremes; and for others simply confused and incoherent. This book challenges those perceptions by showing that 'reformed' and 'catholic' are not intrinsically opposed. Reading Hooker alongside a representative theologian of each tradition (the 'catholic' Aquinas and the 'reformed' Calvin) on theological method, Hobday shows there is much greater congruity between theologies and theologians often considered in tension. On the role of scripture in theology, the theological capacity of human reason, and the place of tradition, these 3 theologians have far more in common than many subsequent commentators have understood. This book shows how both Hooker and the Anglicanism he defended in such elegant prose, can be coherently both 'catholic' and 'reformed' (rather than one, or the other, or some middle way). Relocating Hooker, and Anglicanism, in this way reveals them to be rich, fruitful conversation partners in ecumenical dialogue and theological debates across Christian traditions.

Richard Hooker (1554-1600) has traditionally been seen as the first systematic defender of an Anglican via media between Rome and Geneva. Revisionists have argued recently, however, that Hooker was in fact a thoroughly Reformed theologian. Dr Voak takes issue with this interpretation, arguing that Hooker over time became highly critical of numerous Reformed positions. Beginning with philosophical principles underlying Hooker's theology (e.g. free will, resistibility ofgrace), the book then considers issues such as original sin, justification and sanctification, merit and the religious authority of scripture, reason, and tradition. Finally, Hooker's late manuscripts are examined, in which he defends himself from the charge of heresy.

Charles Miller's rigorous and sensitive examination of Richard Hooker's theology makes a valuable addition to the field of study of the cleric, one of the founding theologians of modern Anglicanism. Miller examines Hooker's works in detail, leading the reader through different facets of his vision of God: creation, Scripture, the sacraments, and practices of Christian devotion. Hooker's theology challenges an increasingly time-bound, relativistic approach to doctrine and truth; his sources were as wide, as ancient, and as modern as Hooker could make them. Miller's thoughtful analysis is informed throughout by an understanding of the context of Hooker's theological development against the backdrop of continental Calvinism and the remnants of Roman Catholicism in England. The growth of interest in Hooker among specialists has been accompanied by an abandonment of the serious study of Hooker's thought among theological students, clergy and theologians. Miller's work addresses thislack; Hooker's insights must not be forgotten in the daily distribution of theological food to Christian people. A study which attunes readers to Hooker's particular theological 'voice' and teaches its value both in his own context and as a present-day interlocutor, this volume will be of great interest to Christians and theological students alike.