Home > Richard Hooker (theologian)

Hooker was born in Exeter, Devon, and educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he became a fellow in 1577. In 1584 he got married, resigned from his college position, and became rector of Drayton Beauchamp in Buckinghamshire. In 1585, he was appointed Master ( RectorThe word rector ("ruler," from the Latin regere has a number of different meanings. The Rector is the highest academic official of a university in many countries. At some universities they have the title of rector magnificus. In Scotland, the position of) of the Temple ChurchThe Temple Church is a 12th century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames. Originally constructed as the headquarters in England of the Knights Templar, it was the scene of important negotiatons leading to the signing of Magna in London, and soon came into conflict with Walter TraversWalter Travers (died 1635) was a Puritan theologian. He was at one time chaplain to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, and tutor to his son Robert Cecil. He is remembered mostly as an opponent of the teaching of Richard Hooker. He was educated at the Univ, a leading Puritan and Assistant (Reader) at the Temple. Nonetheless, the two men remained on friendly personal terms.

In 1592Events January 30 The death of Pope Innocent IX during the previous year had left the Papal throne vacant. Ippolito Aldobrandini is elected Pope Clement VIII. Founding of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland's oldest university Thomas Kyd publishes The Spanis Hooker became a canon at Salisbury CathedralSalisbury Cathedral is located in Salisbury, England. Building commenced when the bishopric was moved here from Old Sarum in 1220 during the tenure of Richard Poore. By 1258 the nave, transepts and choir were complete. The magnificent west front was ready and Rector of the parish of Boscombe in WiltshireWiltshire (abbreviated Wilts is a large southern English county. Considered as a ceremonial county it borders those of Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, and contains the unitary authority of Swindon. Wiltshire is a m. In 1595Events January 30 William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is performed for the first time June 9 Battle of Fontaine-Francaise. Henry IV of France defeats the Spanish, but is nearly killed due to his rashness. October 28 Battle of Guirgevo. Transylvanian fo he became Rector of the parish of Bishopsbourne in Kent.

Hooker's most well-known work is Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, the first four books of which were published in 1594. The fifth was published in 1597, while the final four were published posthumously. This argued for a middle way (a "Via Media") between the positions of the Roman Catholics and the Puritans. Hooker argued that reason and experience (as well as tradition) were important when interpreting the Scriptures, and argued that it was important to recognise that the Bible was written in a particular historical context, in response to specific situations: "Words must be taken according to the matter whereof they are uttered." (Lawes IV.11.7).

It is a massive work, and its principle subject is the proper governance of the churches ("polity"). Inasmuch as the Puritains, then known as the "Geneva Church," for John Calvin's reforms, were advocating most essentially the demotion of clergy and ecclesiasticism, Hooker attempts to work out which methods of organizing churches are best. What was at stake behind such a seemingly theological argument was the position of the Queen as the head of the church. If doctrine were not to be settled by authorities, and if Martin Luther's argument for the priesthood of all believers were to be followed to its extreme and there were to be government by the Elect, then having the monarch as the head of the church was intolerable. On the other side, if the monarch were appointed by God to be the head of the church, then local parishes going their own ways on doctrine were similarly intolerable. Hooker worked from Thomas Aquinas, but he adapted scholastic thought in a latitudinarian way. He argued that church organization, like political organization, is one of the "things indifferent" to God. Minor doctrinal issues were, he said, not issues that damned or saved the soul, but rather frameworks surrounding the moral and religious life of the believer. Thus, there were good monarchies and bad ones, good democracies and bad ones, that what mattered was the piety of the people. At the same time, Hooker argued that authority was commanded by the Bible and by the practice of the early church, but authority was something that had to be based on piety and reason rather than automatic investiture, for authority had to be obeyed, even if it was wrong, but it could be remedied by right reason and the Holy Spirit. Notably, Hooker's affirmation of the power and propriety of bishops was not absolute, and he comes close to arguing for the ability of the governed to take back authority. He thus avoided some of the simplistic extremes being pursued by High Church thinkers.

Another important work was Hooker's sermon, A Learned discourse of Justification. In this he defended his belief in the Protestant doctrine of Justification by faith, but argued that even those who did not understand or accept this could be saved by God. This therefore included Roman Catholics, and emphasised Hooker’s belief that Christians should concentrate more on what united them, rather than on what divided them.

Hooker’s emphases on reason, tolerance and inclusiveness considerably influenced the development of Anglicanism, as well as the thinking of John Locke.