Richard Hooker Prophet of Anglicanism

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Summary: Hooker "rises up, miraculously reborn.for our century."
Review: Except for a handful of scholars and Anglican ministers, very few people in our day have ever heard of Richard Hooker. Yet this great 16th century figure was a household name for hundreds of years after his death in November of 1600. Hooker is one of the important "founders" of the modern era. He is a leading progenitor of Anglo-American ideas about law and constitutional government and a significant exemplar of Elizabethan prose writing. Most importantly for the 70 million Anglicans and Episcopalians around the globe, Hooker is the closest counterpart they have to Martin Luther for Lutherans, John Calvin for Presbyterians or John Wesley for Methodists. If Hooker is so important, why do so few people in our day know about him? The principal answer is that the only biography of him until now was an incomplete and badly flawed piece that painted him as an unbelievably holy icon of righteousness, a saintly dove sent by God to save the Church of England. The author of this hagiography, Isaac Walton, and those who later embellished his stories about Hooker, gave posterity a largely false picture of a shy, humble man who was seduced into marriage by an unscrupulous woman and her mother and disgraced after his death by greedy ungrateful daughters. The message here was that Hooker's writings were important but his life was not. It is not surprising that posterity eventually forgot such a saintly icon who lacked believable, much less likeable, human qualities. The intent of my biography, the first full life of Hooker ever published, is to present an accurate portrait of this important figure and to do so in a manner that makes him accessible for the first time, not only to scholars and learned clergy (who have "owned" Hooker for centuries) but also to the average reader who may have an interest in historical biography, Elizabethan England, the Protestant Reformation, Anglicanism, or all of these fascinating subjects. To this end, the book is generously Illustrated and fully annotated. The year 2000 marks the 400th anniversary of Hooker's death. There will be celebrations at a number of churches and universities around the world. My hope is that my biography of Hooker will help us to remember not only his ideas but also the human context out of which those ideas grew--his life. Richard Hooker is not, as Christopher Morris, an early 20th century editor of his writings, said, "the name of a book rather than the name of a man." Rather, he was a flesh-and-blood human being, fully endowed with all of the qualities of wit, courage, anger, and risk-taking that characterized the leading figures in that robust, dangerous and formative Elizabethan Age. My biography, I trust, will place Hooker where he belongs: in the pantheon of great figures of the English Reformation and Renaissance. I have been encouraged in this hope by the words of Dr. W. Speed Hill, general editor of the authoritative "Folger Library Edition of the Works of Richard Hooker," who wrote: "Hooker rises up, miraculously reborn, from the pages of this biography . . .rediscovered for our century."

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Summary: Anglican Christian Thinker Reborn in New Biography
Review: Not for over three hundred years has a full-length biography of Richard Hooker appeared. The man who wrote the defining work of Anglican Christianity in its infancy certainly deserves renewed attention as Christian traditions, striving for ecumenical unity, must first come to grips with their own unique identities. Professor Secor's biography admirably addresses the need and remedies the neglect of a great man who will be 400 years dead in November. His extremely readable account of Hooker's life makes Hooker and his times come alive for a modern reader. Though Secor frequently alludes to the inaccuracies of Hooker's 17th century biography by Walton, a biography which turned Hooker into a plaster saint, he certainly is no Hooker debunker but rather leaves his readers with an abiding admiration and even affection for Hooker. Blemished only by some typographical errors overlooked in editing, Secor's Hooker biography is an outstanding contribution to a twenty-first century reflection on the English Reformation.

Rating:
Summary: Anglican Christian Thinker Reborn in New Biography
Review: Not for over three hundred years has a full-length biography of Richard Hooker appeared. The man who wrote the defining work of Anglican Christianity in its infancy certainly deserves renewed attention as Christian traditions, striving for ecumenical unity, must first come to grips with their own unique identities. Professor Secor's biography admirably addresses the need and remedies the neglect of a great man who will be 400 years dead in November. His extremely readable account of Hooker's life makes Hooker and his times come alive for a modern reader. Though Secor frequently alludes to the inaccuracies of Hooker's 17th century biography by Walton, a biography which turned Hooker into a plaster saint, he certainly is no Hooker debunker but rather leaves his readers with an abiding admiration and even affection for Hooker. Blemished only by some typographical errors overlooked in editing, Secor's Hooker biography is an outstanding contribution to a twenty-first century reflection on the English Reformation.

Rating:
Summary: At the Heart of the Anglican Church
Review: Richard Hooker was without question the seminal thinker in the development of the Anglican Church as "The Via Media" - or what became known as the Elizabethan Settlement. Secor's book gives true insight into the influences that shaped the thinking of this man who contributed so much. For such an important academic work, the book is quite readable by the interested layman, as well.

Rating:
Summary: At the Heart of the Anglican Church
Review: Richard Hooker was without question the seminal thinker in the development of the Anglican Church as "The Via Media" - or what became known as the Elizabethan Settlement. Secor's book gives true insight into the influences that shaped the thinking of this man who contributed so much. For such an important academic work, the book is quite readable by the interested layman, as well.

Rating:
Summary: At the Heart of the Anglican Church
Review: Richard Hooker was without question the seminal thinker in the development of the Anglican Church as "The Via Media" - or what became known as the Elizabethan Settlement. Secor's book gives true insight into the influences that shaped the thinking of this man who contributed so much. For such an important academic work, the book is quite readable by the interested layman, as well.

Rating:
Summary: VERY RELEVANT IN LIGHT OF CURRENT EVENTS
Review: This book is very relevant in light of current events in the Episcopal Church in the United States. Since the Ordination of Canon Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, as Bishop of New Hampshire, a vociferous Donatist faction has sought to provoke schism in the Episcopal Church. An exploration of Hooker's life and thought in the pages of Secor's biography provides readers with a useful counterweight to this Donatist heresy.

Rating:
Summary: VERY RELEVANT IN LIGHT OF CURRENT EVENTS
Review: This book is very relevant in light of current events in the Episcopal Church in the United States. Since the Ordination of Canon Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, as Bishop of New Hampshire, a vociferous Donatist faction has sought to provoke schism in the Episcopal Church. An exploration of Hooker's life and thought in the pages of Secor's biography provides readers with a useful counterweight to this Donatist heresy.