Richard Hooker

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Richard Hooker
Priest and Theologian
d. 3 November 1600

On any list of great English theologians, the name of Richard Hooker would appear at or near the top. Born near Exeter in 1554, he was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he became an M.A. and Fellow. He was ordained in 1579, From Oxford, and moved to his first incumbency at St. Mary the Virgin, Drayton Beauchamp, a position he held during 1584 and 1585. He came to the attention of Queen Elizabeth who appointed him as Master (rector) of the Temple Church in London in 1585.

On Hooker's arrival at the Temple, a unique situation arose. The story goes that the deputy, Richard Travers, expected to be promoted, but because of his extreme Puritan views this did not happen, and Richard Hooker became the new Master. Each Sunday morning Hooker would preach his sermon; each Sunday afternoon Travers would contradict Hooker in his! People came to call it 'The Battle of the Pulpit', saying mischievously that Canterbury (Anglicanism) was preached in the morning and Geneva (Puritanism) in the afternoon.

Hooker's major idea was that the church should be a broad, tolerant, inclusive body - a via media between Roman Catholicism and the more extreme forms of Protestantism - in which as many as possible could worship God. He emphasized the importance of corporate worship and reading of the Bible. He stressed the Sacrament of Holy Communion as the best way for the believer to participate with Christ in God's Incarnation.

There was a lasting result of all this. Richard Hooker published his teaching, four books in 1594 and his most famous book in 1597, The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. Its philosophical base is Aristotelian, with a strong emphasis on natural law eternally planted by God in creation. On this foundation, all positive laws of Church and State are developed from Scriptural revelation, ancient tradition, reason, and experience.

In 1588, the year of the Armada, Hooker married Joan Churchman. Her father, John Churchman, was one of the leading merchants of London with a large home next door to St. Paul's Cathedral. He provided handsomely for his daughter and son-in-law, assuring Hooker the financial security he needed to pursue his career as a writer. Richard and Joan had six children, only two of whom survived beyond the age of 21. He died on November 3rd at Bishopsbourne in Kent, just a few miles south of Canterbury.

The effect of his work has been considerable. Hooker greatly influenced John Locke, and (both directly and through Locke), American political philosophy in the late 1700's. Although Hooker was unsparing in his censure of what he believed to be the errors of Rome, his contemporary, Pope Clement VIII, said of the book: "It has in it such seeds of eternity that it will abide until the last fire shall consume all learning." King James I read Hooker's writings, had his sons tutored in his works, and began a tradition of Hooker study that soon made Hooker the premier theologian of the Anglicanism. He is honoured with a special prayer throughout the Anglican world each year on the anniversary of his death.

Acknowledgements:
Text adapted from Richard Hooker, Exeter Cathedral (page no longer available), Diocese of Oxford
Image from Exeter Cathedral (Spruce Riordon)