Learned Discourse on Justification - Enhanced Version

by Richard Hooker

James Kiefer's introduction to this work explains its premise well. Richard Hooker said once in a sermon, "I doubt not but God was merciful to save thousands of our fathers living in popish superstitions, inasmuch as they sinned ignorantly." Keifer explains that "This sentence, which today would be fiercely attacked by those who thought it arrogant, narrow, and bigoted, was at the time attacked on opposite grounds. Walter Travers...said that since the adherents of the Pope did not believe in justification by faith, they could not be justified by faith, which meant that they could not be justified at all, which meant that they were certainly damned, with no exceptions. Hooker, he claimed, had sold out to the enemy." In response to Travers' objections, Hooker crafted a masterful sermon on justification. A brief look at the table of contents will show readers the outline of his sermon. This work is a practical application of Hooker's educated, logical, and authoritative theology.

Abby Zwart
CCEL Staff Writer

This edition features an artistic cover, a new promotional introduction, an index of scripture references, and links for scripture references to the appropriate passages.

Genres: Theology

61 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2010

About the author

Richard Hooker (March 1554 – 3 November 1600) was an Anglican priest and an influential theologian. Hooker's emphases on reason, tolerance and the value of tradition considerably influenced the development of Anglicanism. He was the co-founder (with Thomas Cranmer and Matthew Parker) of Anglican theological thought. Hooker's great Elizabethan guide to Church Government and Discipline is both a masterpiece of English prose and one of the bulwarks of the Established Church in England. Hooker projected eight books for the great work. The first four books of Ecclesiastical Polity appeared in 1593, Book V in 1597. Hooker died in 1600 at the age of forty-six and the remaining three books were completed, though not revised, before his death. The manuscripts fell into careless or unscrupulous hands and were not published until long afterwards (1648 to 1662), and then only in mutilated form. Samuel Pepys makes mention of Hooker's Polity three times in his Diary, first in 1661, "Mr. Chetwind fell commending of 'Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity,' as the best book, and the only one that made him a Christian, which puts me upon the buying of it, which I will do shortly." In 1667 Pepys bought the new edition that had been printed in 1666, the first to include the life of Hooker by Izaak Walton.

Reviews

[Adam Lam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than expected!

This book is written in near 1600, leading to 2 observations. The first is that the language is in very old English, which made it tenuous to understand. The second and more important observation is that it was very ecumenical! Seeing that the all traditions of Christianity have made meaningful progress in discussions about Justification since 1600, this reiterates the unity possible in Christianity.

Hooker provides a sort of logical foundation that deals with what is and isn't heresy. He makes it clear that there needs to be a direct, conscious denial of the foundation of Christianity to be a heretic and not within God's mercy. Simply erring, being deceived, or sincerely believing incorrect doctrine does not count. He makes an example that even though the Church Fathers may have erred, God was still merciful. He provides discourse on the Roman Catholic Church, and how they were different from the Galatians. Ultimately, he includes the RCC inside of God's mercy, for the foundation of Christianity - salvation by Jesus Christ - remains in tact.

Overall, the book emphasizes that the reach of God's mercy is great!

"Surely, I must confess unto you, if it be an error to think that God may be merciful to save men even when they err, my greatest comfort is my error: were it not for the love I bear unto this error, I would neither wish to speak nor to live."

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Surely, I must confess unto you, if it be an error to think that God may be merciful to save men even when they err, my greatest comfort is my error: were it not for the love I bear unto this error, I would neither wish to speak nor to live."

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkably kind discussion. I have read a good bit of the justification by faith ALONE from Luther and Calvin and many more modern authors, but it is nice to get the other side of it. Hooker was compassionate:

"The hour may come when we shall think it a blessed thing to hear that if our sins were as the sins of the pope and cardinals the bowels of the mercy of God are larger."

"Surely, I must confess unto you, if it be an error to think that God may be merciful to save men even when they err, my greatest comfort is my error: were it not for the love I bear unto this error, I would neither wish to speak nor to live."

Okay, I'm hooked.