Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Book 1

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By Listen TheBook Posted on Jun 1, 2023

In Category - Christianity - Other

Authors: Richard Hooker In Year : 1825

Book Language: English

Audiobook: Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Book 1

The cause of writing this general Discourse concerning Laws
Of that Law which God from before the beginning hath set for himself, to do all things by
The Law which natural agents observe, and their necessary manner of keeping it
The Law which the Angels of God obey
The Law whereby Man is in his actions directed to the imitation of God
Men's first beginning to understand that Law
Of Man's Will, which is the first thing that Laws of Action are made to guide
Of the natural finding out of Laws by the light of Reason, to guide the will unto that which is good
Of the benefit of keeping that Law which Reason teacheth
How Reason doth lead men unto the making of human Laws, whereby politic Societies are governed, and to agreement about Laws, whereby the fellowship or communion of independent Societies standeth
Wherefore God hath by Scripture further made known such supernatural Laws as do serve for men's direction
The cause why so many natural or rational Laws are set down in Holy Scripture
The benefit of having divine Laws written
The sufficiency of Scripture unto the end for which it was instituted
Of Laws positive contained in Scripture; the mutability of certain of them, and the general use of Scripture
A Conclusion, shewing how all this belongeth to the cause in question

Hooker resolved to investigate the position of the English Church, and to attempt to answer the question What is the basis upon which Church laws and Church government rest? And his magnum opus ‘The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity’ was the result.

The Puritan system with which Richard Hooker found himself face to face, and which he so resolutely and courageously set himself the task of discrediting, speaking broadly, was based on the assumption that, in all matters affecting religious worship, discipline, and government, an unchangeable rule is laid down in Holy Scripture, and in Holy Scripture alone.

It was held (by the Puritans) that no law could be of permanent obligation which was not expressed in Holy Scripture, and that no law which was contained in any part of Holy Scripture could fail to be of permanent obligation.

In opposition to the Puritan contention Hooker urged that, in order to discover what the Divine order is, we must have recourse not only to the written word of God, but also to the moral relations, the historical development, and the social and political institutions of the human race and, in determining the laws of this Divine order, he asserted the function of human reason. And, moreover, he claimed for human reason the office of distinguishing in the Bible record, between what is changeable and what is unchangeable, between what is of merely temporal and what is of lasting obligation.

The design of The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, as stated by Richard Hooker, was to settle current controversies concerning religion and government, and “to resolve the conscience, and to show as near as I can what in this controversy the heart is to think, if it will follow the light of sound and sincere judgment, without either cloud of prejudice, or mist of passionate affection.” - Summary by Vernon Staley