The Works of Mr. Richard Hooker, (That Learned and Judicious Divine) In Eight Books of Ecclesiastical Polity, Completed Out of His Own Manuscripts: ... of His Life and Death

by Richard Hooker

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Genres: Theology

671 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 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

[Errol Cavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as dry as it sounds by a long chalk. Beautifully written work on political philosophy and a cry for moderation in an age of religious and intolerance. The best argument for the Anglican via media of Elizabeth I. 'Think ye are men, deem it not impossible for you to err'. A thought we should all keep in our minds.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

The landmark body of Anglican doctrine