The Law and the Origins of Political Order in Richard Hooker’s Political Theology

Tomasz Tulejski

The Law and the Origins of Political Order in Richard Hooker’s Political Theology

Publication date: 05.12.2018

Cracow Studies of Constitutional and Legal History, Special Issues, Special Issue, English Version 2018, pp. 111-129

https://doi.org/10.4467/20844131KS.18.034.9122

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The Law and the Origins of Political Order in Richard Hooker’s Political Theology

Abstract

Richard Hooker was one of the most important English theologians and political thinkers of the 16th century. He is regarded as the originator of Anglicanism and the greatest adversary of Puritan extremists. His fundamental work Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie is a repudiation of both the key principles of Puritanism (as formulated by Thomas Cartwright and William Travers) and the doctrine of Rome. While the Roman Catholics put Scripture and tradition on a parity as the touchstone of faith and the Puritans would have no authority but the Bible, this article argues that Hooker steered clear of either extreme. His formula was to accept Scripture’s absolute authority where it spoke plainly and unequivocally and to consult the tradition of the church on the points which the Bible was silent or ambiguous about. However, the solution would be incomplete without human reason, which, he insisted, must be used and obeyed whenever Scripture and tradition needed clarification or were faced with a new set of circumstances. Therefore, his legal philosophy, rooted in St. Thomas Aquinas’ theology and a reformed concept of justification, relies on the combined guidance of the Revelation, tradition and reason.

Keywords

Hooker, Anglicanism, law of nature, Puritanism

References

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Information

Information: Cracow Studies of Constitutional and Legal History, Special Issues, Special Issue, English Version 2018, pp. 111-129

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/20844131KS.18.034.9122

Article type: Original article

Authors

Tomasz Tulejski

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9466-1173

University of Lodz, Poland, ul. Narutowicza 65, 90-131 Łódź

Published at: 05.12.2018

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Tomasz Tulejski (Author) - 100%

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English

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The Law and the Origins of Political Order in Richard Hooker’s Political Theology

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