1st Edition

Richard Hooker, Reformer and Platonist

By W.J. Torrance Kirby Copyright 2005
    152 Pages
    by Routledge

    150 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book explores key aspects of Richard Hooker's philosophical and theological discourse in the context of currents of thought prevalent in the 'Magisterial Reformation' of the sixteenth century. Hooker's treatment of natural law, his dependence upon the philosophical discourse and traditional cosmology of Christian Neoplatonism, and his appeal to the authority of patristic sources, are all closely examined. Challenging the received 'exceptionalist' model of much of the twentieth-century interpretation of Hooker, in particular the concept of his supposed defence of the English Reformation as striking a 'via media' between Rome and mainstream Protestant reform, W.J. Torrance Kirby argues that Hooker adheres to principles of 'magisterial' reform while building upon the assumptions of a distinctively Protestant version of Platonism.

    Chapter 1 An Introduction to the Life and Thought of Richard Hooker; Chapter 2 Polemics and Apologetics: the Case for Magisterial Reform 1 This chapter first appeared in a book of essays published to mark the quatercentenary of the first edition of the Lawes. See Richard Hooker and the Construction of Christian Community, ed. A.S. McGrade, pp. 219–33.; Chapter 3 Grace and Hierarchy: Hooker’s Two Christian Platonisms; Chapter 4 Creation and Government: Mediation of the ‘Aeternall Law’; Chapter 5 Reason and Natural Law: the ‘ Duplex Cognitio Dei ’ 1 This paper was read at the annual meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics held in Cincinnati in January 1997.; Chapter 6 : 22–39.; Chapter 7 Common Prayer and Commonwealth: ‘Publique Religion’;

    Biography

    W.J. Torrance Kirby is Associate Professor of Church History at McGill University, Canada.

    'It is [...] useful to have so many technical and specialist pieces assembled together in this manner.' Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte ’... Kirby's close reading of Hooker provides a strong confirmation of the revised picture of Richar Hooker that has emerged in scholarly circles over the past two decades.’ Anglican and Episcopal History ’... a useful unified source for Kirby's important work, otherwise scattered in several place.’ Toronto Journal of Theology ’... an important addition to the literature on Hooker...’ Pro Rege