A House for the Word: A Treatise on Public Worship from Hooker's Laws

by Richard Hooker, Patrick Timmis (Editor), Brad Littlejohn (Editor)

247 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2025

About the author

Richard Hooker is the pseudonym of Hiester Richard Hornberger Jr. who was born February 1, 1924 and died November 4, 1997. He was an American writer and surgeon. His most famous work was his novel MASH (1968). The novel was based on his own personal experiences during the Korean War at the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. It was written in collaboration with W. C. Heinz. The novel took 11 years to write. In 1970, and then again from 1972-1983 it was used as the basis for a critically and commercially successful movie and television series of the same name.

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Reviews

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great reflection. Hooker raises some great points about the fittingness of consecrated church buildings and the importance of solemn worship. I loved his emphasis on the gracious utility of simply reading Holy Scripture publicly.

I don’t buy his case for utilizing apocryphal writings of liturgical purposes. I also think Hooker overreacts with too much disdain for extemporaneous prayer, even he’s right that common and pre-written prayers are good and fitting in corporate worship.