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In Defense of Reformed Catholic Worship
In this fourth volume of an ongoing translation project by the Davenant Institute, we present Book IV of Hooker’s Laws, in which Hooker defends the legitimacy of the Church of England’s reformed catholic liturgy. Arguing that Protestants must be guided by a positive vision of the purpose of worship, and not a negative reaction to Roman Catholic practice, Hooker surveys common Puritan objections to traditional liturgy and finds them wanting. Along the way, Hooker considers how Christians should understand the Jewish ceremonial law and what Christians should do when ceremonies cause a weaker brother to stumble. Still as relevant today as when it was penned more than four centuries ago, Book IV of the Laws offers an enduring vision of moderation and respect for the past that remains forthrightly Protestant.
- GenresTheology
Paperback
Published November 13, 2018
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About the author
Richard Hooker
206 books18 followersRichard Hooker (March 1554 – 3 November 1600) was an Anglican priest and an influential theologian. Hooker's emphases on reason, tolerance and the value of tradition considerably influenced the development of Anglicanism. He was the co-founder (with Thomas Cranmer and Matthew Parker) of Anglican theological thought. Hooker's great Elizabethan guide to Church Government and Discipline is both a masterpiece of English prose and one of the bulwarks of the Established Church in England. Hooker projected eight books for the great work. The first four books of Ecclesiastical Polity appeared in 1593, Book V in 1597. Hooker died in 1600 at the age of forty-six and the remaining three books were completed, though not revised, before his death. The manuscripts fell into careless or unscrupulous hands and were not published until long afterwards (1648 to 1662), and then only in mutilated form. Samuel Pepys makes mention of Hooker's Polity three times in his Diary, first in 1661, "Mr. Chetwind fell commending of 'Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity,' as the best book, and the only one that made him a Christian, which puts me upon the buying of it, which I will do shortly." In 1667 Pepys bought the new edition that had been printed in 1666, the first to include the life of Hooker by Izaak Walton.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 6, 2022
This book will challenge a Puritan only Christian. What I mean by that is only reading the arguments of the Puritans during the time of Reformation. I confess I have been one.
This book is a response to Puritan arguments regarding the direction and ceremonial practices of the Church of England. Hooker, a Protestant who advocated for the Church of England, provided sound arguments back at the Puritans (specifically Thomas Cartwright) and gave a Reformed and balanced approach to the ceremonial practices of the Church of England.
This made me realize there was a time in history when the Church of England was under sound rulers. And a great lesson I learned from this book is that:
1) Churches have liberty and authority to organize and practice worship as long as it doesn’t rebel or distort the Truth of Scripture.
2) Zeal for reform in the ceremonial practices of a/the church (i.e., kneeling or standing in prayer, singing with or without hands raised, vestments, etc.) can lead to unnecessary fighting that divides the body of Christ. Doctrine unifies us, and on that basis, we should seek to keep the peace we have by not going after another denominations throat if they wear a different outfit than another’s. Some Puritans despised this, and Hooker (whose Reformed) calls them out on it.
3) It’s always good to hear the other side out.
This book is a response to Puritan arguments regarding the direction and ceremonial practices of the Church of England. Hooker, a Protestant who advocated for the Church of England, provided sound arguments back at the Puritans (specifically Thomas Cartwright) and gave a Reformed and balanced approach to the ceremonial practices of the Church of England.
This made me realize there was a time in history when the Church of England was under sound rulers. And a great lesson I learned from this book is that:
1) Churches have liberty and authority to organize and practice worship as long as it doesn’t rebel or distort the Truth of Scripture.
2) Zeal for reform in the ceremonial practices of a/the church (i.e., kneeling or standing in prayer, singing with or without hands raised, vestments, etc.) can lead to unnecessary fighting that divides the body of Christ. Doctrine unifies us, and on that basis, we should seek to keep the peace we have by not going after another denominations throat if they wear a different outfit than another’s. Some Puritans despised this, and Hooker (whose Reformed) calls them out on it.
3) It’s always good to hear the other side out.
February 1, 2026
Hooker appears, in this book, as a professional going against amateurs. Thankfully he is quite gracious in his dealings, as a Christian should be; however Cartwright’s (and the Puritan position at large) arguments are so weak that many of the shorter chapters still felt like overkill.
I am primarily surprised at the relevancy of this book to modern discussions. It seems that the low-church evangelicals have directly inherited the spirit of the Puritans. In their hatred of all-things Catholic (which I do not understand the hatred for our brothers and sisters), they often become zealous and paranoid too far in the opposite direction (i.e. Christmas is pagan, all church hierarchy is bad, Eucharistic services are idolatrous, etc, etc…. all claims addressed in the book). I would strongly recommend this book to anyone in low-church circles feeling disillusioned and getting “liturgical-curious”. Also, I would recommend it to anyone who thinks the mainlines are too “Catholic” in retention of liturgies; however, I warn that it will likely hit home.
I am primarily surprised at the relevancy of this book to modern discussions. It seems that the low-church evangelicals have directly inherited the spirit of the Puritans. In their hatred of all-things Catholic (which I do not understand the hatred for our brothers and sisters), they often become zealous and paranoid too far in the opposite direction (i.e. Christmas is pagan, all church hierarchy is bad, Eucharistic services are idolatrous, etc, etc…. all claims addressed in the book). I would strongly recommend this book to anyone in low-church circles feeling disillusioned and getting “liturgical-curious”. Also, I would recommend it to anyone who thinks the mainlines are too “Catholic” in retention of liturgies; however, I warn that it will likely hit home.
September 21, 2021
Hooker appears to be one of those frustratingly reasonable and measured people you meet from time to time.
Rome-ophobia
The basic thrust of this work is that it isn’t a substantive argument against a ceremony to point out that it resembles something that Rome does.
Furthermore, this work is a prime example of what later would be called “Chesterton’s wall”: if you don’t understand why this long-established thing was put in place, that is an argument to keep it in place, not to remove it. Thus, the communion wafers weren’t going anywhere for Hooker.
On Her Majesty’s Sacred Service
Having read this and some Calvin around the same time as some bits and pieces on the doctrine of two kingdoms, it is endlessly fascinating to me how straightforwardly writers like Hooker and Calvin see the civil magistrate as a blessing from God for the aid of the church: “When [Elizabeth I] first came to her crown, she raised the true religion as it were from the dead by a miracle.” Preceded by a great line about Henry VIII beheading superstition.
Rome-ophobia
The basic thrust of this work is that it isn’t a substantive argument against a ceremony to point out that it resembles something that Rome does.
Furthermore, this work is a prime example of what later would be called “Chesterton’s wall”: if you don’t understand why this long-established thing was put in place, that is an argument to keep it in place, not to remove it. Thus, the communion wafers weren’t going anywhere for Hooker.
On Her Majesty’s Sacred Service
Having read this and some Calvin around the same time as some bits and pieces on the doctrine of two kingdoms, it is endlessly fascinating to me how straightforwardly writers like Hooker and Calvin see the civil magistrate as a blessing from God for the aid of the church: “When [Elizabeth I] first came to her crown, she raised the true religion as it were from the dead by a miracle.” Preceded by a great line about Henry VIII beheading superstition.
Read
November 13, 2018Great book. A fun book for anybody who thinks that Christians are required to always do the opposite of whatever the majority culture is doing. Hooker shows that this is a very foolish principle through showing how the principle of having a different liturgy than the Roman Catholics just for the sake of having a different liturgy was dangerous, both as a principle and in the particular circumstances of the English church. Recommended for all contrarians.
Am so blessed to be able to go through this with Brad Littlejohn and Brad Belschner. It was a fun project and always an education.
Am so blessed to be able to go through this with Brad Littlejohn and Brad Belschner. It was a fun project and always an education.
June 29, 2022
Generally very helpful reading. At the beginning, he argues that zeal has conquered charity and I think by and large that is a fair judgment on many parts of the Protestant church, particularly the puritans and their descendants. Hooker shows how we can take what is good from other denominations without embracing what is bad. Useful in remaining fair-minded in looking at the liturgy churches should use, and sweeping away the, often humorously, bad arguments that are used to justify radical reform.
July 28, 2025
“They [Anglican Reformers] judged that if they had abolished a practice which was not manifestly harming the church, then this would be to unnecessarily alter the ancient custom of the whole Church, the universal practice of the people of God, and the very decrees of our fathers — customs, not only set down by the agreement of ecumenical councils, but put in use and maintained from that time all the way down to the present.”
December 30, 2018
Having worked through all the Davenant translations of Hooker, I will now offer an unpopular thought: I don't yet see what is so special about Hooker and the arguments he is making.
Perhaps part of the problem here is that his main interlocutor is Cartwright, whose position and arguments are so damn stupid.
Perhaps part of the problem here is that his main interlocutor is Cartwright, whose position and arguments are so damn stupid.
December 2, 2018
Hooker responds to Cartwright on how and to what extent the Reformed church of English ought to differ from Rome. Clear arguments calmly made.
January 20, 2021
While I enjoy the modernization of this great work. I found some of his arguments rather weak. 3/5 but it is not allowing me to rate accurate stars.
December 3, 2018
An excellent addition to the Davenant Institute's project of modernizing the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, an unparalleled work of Anglican ecclesiology from the end of the Elizabethan era. The Davenant Institute seeks to revive interest in oft forgotten resources from the Reformation; premier Richard Hooker scholar Brad Littlejohn, the architect of this project, is one of their founders.
Book IV of Hooker's Laws covers a topic well-beloved to the Reformed heart: worship and the regulative principle. In Book IV, Hooker moves on from the foundations laid in Books I-III to engage with the Puritan party in the Church of England, who desired radical reforms of the prayerbook and a "minimal" style of worship that would exclude such things as vestments and other traditional "ceremonial" aspects of worship. Hooker has already gone into great detail about he various kinds of law and the role they play in the Christian life, as well as the nature and function of Scripture. He marshalls those insights to defend the Anglican formularies. He shows how the regulative principle. taken literally, is incoherent and unworkable. He also rebuts the many objections to the Anglican way of worship (though he waits until Book V to defend specifics). In particular, he ably defeats the idea that keeping features of worship common to Roman Catholicism somehow gives ammunition to the Catholic Church or inevitably causes scandal. He also shows that, while the Bible certainly does provide many principles and aids for worship, different outward circumstances necessitate different forms. This is something even the most strict regulativists end up acknowledging by inventing a fairly ad hoc "elements/circumstances" distinction--where "circumstances" usually mean things that can't be defended from Scripture but that the party in question happens to really like.
Hooker's treatment of these issues is first-rate. Likewise, the modernization is effective. The prose flows naturally; the books in this series are capable of being digested by most intelligent readers. Each book is also fairly short; it is possible to finish this in one sitting, although it is worth several reads since Hooker covers a lot of ground.
This is a needed project. The Davenant Institute is doing good work and I hope recoveries such as this continue apace.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Book IV of Hooker's Laws covers a topic well-beloved to the Reformed heart: worship and the regulative principle. In Book IV, Hooker moves on from the foundations laid in Books I-III to engage with the Puritan party in the Church of England, who desired radical reforms of the prayerbook and a "minimal" style of worship that would exclude such things as vestments and other traditional "ceremonial" aspects of worship. Hooker has already gone into great detail about he various kinds of law and the role they play in the Christian life, as well as the nature and function of Scripture. He marshalls those insights to defend the Anglican formularies. He shows how the regulative principle. taken literally, is incoherent and unworkable. He also rebuts the many objections to the Anglican way of worship (though he waits until Book V to defend specifics). In particular, he ably defeats the idea that keeping features of worship common to Roman Catholicism somehow gives ammunition to the Catholic Church or inevitably causes scandal. He also shows that, while the Bible certainly does provide many principles and aids for worship, different outward circumstances necessitate different forms. This is something even the most strict regulativists end up acknowledging by inventing a fairly ad hoc "elements/circumstances" distinction--where "circumstances" usually mean things that can't be defended from Scripture but that the party in question happens to really like.
Hooker's treatment of these issues is first-rate. Likewise, the modernization is effective. The prose flows naturally; the books in this series are capable of being digested by most intelligent readers. Each book is also fairly short; it is possible to finish this in one sitting, although it is worth several reads since Hooker covers a lot of ground.
This is a needed project. The Davenant Institute is doing good work and I hope recoveries such as this continue apace.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
November 19, 2018
Essential reading for Anglicans, in my opinion.
November 27, 2018
Still relevant.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews