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PDF with Clickable Content Links Durham E-Theses Relocating Richard Hooker - Theological Method and the Character of Anglicanism HOBDAY, PHILIP,PETER How to cite: HOBDAY, PHILIP,PETER (2021) Relocating Richard Hooker - Theological Method and the Character of Anglicanism, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13874/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Relocating Richard Hooker Theological Method and the Character of Anglicanism A dissertation submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Durham University Philip Peter Hobday Department of Theology and Religion January 2021 Relocating Richard Hooker Theological Method and the Character of Anglicanism Philip Peter Hobday Abstract The coherence of Anglicanism’s claim to be both ‘catholic’ and ‘reformed’ has often been challenged, with the tradition regularly characterised as more one than the other, or as steering a middle way between the two. Such competing interpretations frequently influence and / or advance readings of Richard Hooker, one of Anglicanism’s foremost theologians, who is often characterised as essentially catholic, basically reformed, or a proponent of a third way between the two. Most such characterisations of Hooker, and the presumptions of tension or even incoherence within Anglican identity on this point, assume that ‘catholic’ and ‘reformed’ are opposites on a theological spectrum, fundamentally divergent or even irreconcilable, such that Hooker and Anglicanism must be located on that spectrum. This study argues that closely reading Hooker alongside a representative theologian of each tradition (the catholic Thomas Aquinas and the reformed John Calvin) reveals the notion of such a spectrum is fundamentally flawed and so attempts to locate Hooker and / or Anglicanism in relation to it are misplaced. Tracing the accounts of the three theologians on theological method (defined as the authority of, and relationship between, scripture, tradition, and reason) reveals substantial and surprising continuity between the three theologians in an area where it is often argued they disagree. The investigation thereby yields a fresh reading of Hooker as both catholic and reformed (not one or the other, or a middle way between the two), with a coherent and realistic theological method. Likewise it shows that Anglicanism can claim a coherent theological method and a genuinely catholic and reformed identity, with those categorisations as mutually enhancing not mutually exclusive. The possibilities and limitations of this theological method and account of Anglicanism are illustrated by application to contemporary disputes about faith and reason; authority in the church; and the definition of marriage. Table of Contents Abbreviations i A note on citations iv Declaration & Statement of Copyright v Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 Chapter One Location, Location, Location Introduction 7 Richard Hooker 7 Hooker’s life and works 8 Hooker then and now 9 Excursus: theological method 13 Reading Hooker with Calvin and Aquinas 17 Summary 22 Chapter Two Knowledge of God in Aquinas Introduction 23 Natural knowledge of God in Aquinas 23 Reason and its limitations 31 Reason and revelation 43 Scripture in Aquinas’s theological method 52 Obscuring Aquinas’s method 62 Summary 66 Chapter Three Knowledge of God in Calvin Introduction 68 Natural knowledge of God in Calvin 69 Reason and its limitations 75 Reason and revelation 82 Scripture in Calvin’s theological method 85 Obscuring Calvin’s convergence with Aquinas 94 Summary 100 Chapter Four Knowledge of God in Hooker Introduction 102 Natural knowledge of God in Hooker 103 Reason and its limitations 107 Reason and revelation 115 Scripture in Hooker’s theological method 121 Obscuring Hooker’s convergence with Calvin and Aquinas 137 Summary 144 Chapter Five Tradition in Hooker, Calvin, and Aquinas Introduction 145 Tradition in Aquinas’s theological method 146 Tradition in Calvin’s theological method 154 Tradition in Hooker’s theological method 165 Obscuring the convergence of Hooker, Calvin, and Aquinas 173 Summary 180 Chapter Six Possibilities and Limitations Introduction 182 Faith and Reason 184 Authority in the Church 194 The Definition of Marriage 201 Summary 205 Conclusion 208 Bibliography 214 i. Abbreviations ACL ‘A Christian Letter of Certain English Protestants with Richard Hooker’s Autograph Notes,’ FLE, IV.1-80. Antidote John Calvin, ‘Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent with the Antidote.’ In John Calvin: Tracts and Letters. 9 vols., III.18-188. Translated and edited by Henry Beveridge. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. CD Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics. 13 vols. Edited by G.W. Bromiley and T.F. Torrance. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956-75. Certainty Richard Hooker, ‘A Learned Sermon of the Certainty and Perpetuity of Faith in the Elect,’ FLE, V.59-82. Commentaries John Calvin, Commentaries. Translated and edited by Joseph Haroutunian. London: SCM, 1963. CRH A Companion to Richard Hooker. Edited by W.J.T. Kirby. Leiden: Brill, 2008. CThJ Calvin Theological Journal Decrees Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Vol. II: Trent to Vatican II. Edited by Norman P. Tanner. London: Sheed and Ward, 1990. de trin. Thomas Aquinas, Expositio super librum Boethii de Trinitate (Exposition of Boethius’ book on the Trinity). The edition used is Maurer’s two-volume translation: Faith, Reason and Theology: Questions I-IV of his Commentary on the de Trinitate of Boethius and The Division and Methods of the Sciences: Questions V and VI of his Commentary on the de Trinitate of Boethius. Translated by Armand Maurer. Toronto: Pontifical Institution of Medieval Studies, 1986-7. de ver. Thomas Aquinas, Quaestiones disputatae de veritate (Disputed Questions on Truth). The edition used is the three-volume translation, Truth. Translated by Robert W. Mulligan, James V. McGlynn, Robert W. Schmidt. Indianapolis, Ind.: Hackett Publishing Company, 1994. DER Documents of the English Reformation, 1526-1701. Edited by Gerald Bray. London: James Clarke, 2004. DF Richard Hooker, ‘The Dublin Fragments: Grace and Free Will, the Sacraments, and Predestination,’ FLE, IV.99-167. div. nom. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Blessed Dionysius’s On The Divine Names. Translated by Harry C. Marsh, ‘Cosmic Structure and the Knowledge of God: Thomas Aquinas’ In Librum Beati Dionysii De Divinis nominibus expositio.’ Ph.D. diss., Vanderbilt University, 1994. ii. EHR English Historical Review Fides et ratio John Paul II, ‘Encyclical Letter on the Relationship between Faith and Reason’ (14th September 1998). Accessed 16th August 2020. http://www.vatican.va/content/john- paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/ hf_jp-ii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio.html. FLE Richard Hooker, Folger Library Edition of the Works of Richard Hooker. 7 vols. General Editor W. Speed Hill. Vols. I-V: Cambridge, Mass.: Bealknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977-1990; Vol. VI: Binghamton, N.Y.: Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1993; Vol. VII: Tempe, Ariz.: Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1998. HJ Heythrop Journal HThR Harvard Theological Review IJST International Journal of Systematic Theology in Gal. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on St Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians. Translated by F.R. Larcher. Albany, N.Y.: Magi Books, 1966. Institutes John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. 2 vols. Edited by John T. McNeill. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006. JAS Journal of Anglican Studies JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History JTS Journal of Theological Studies Jude I Richard Hooker, ‘The First Sermon upon Part of St Jude,’ FLE, V.13-35. Jude II Richard Hooker, ‘The Second Sermon upon Part of St Jude,’ FLE, V.36-57. Just. Richard Hooker, ‘A Learned Discourse of Justification,’ FLE, V.105-69. Laws Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity: A Critical Edition with Modern Spelling. 3 vols. Edited by A.S. McGrade. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Lumen Second Vatican Council, ‘Dogmatic Constitution on the Church’ (21st November Gentium 1964). https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/ vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html. metaphys. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle. 2 vols. Translated by John P. Rowan. Chicago, Ill.: Henry Regnery, 1961. OHA The Oxford History of Anglicanism. 5 vols. Gen. ed. Rowan Strong. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016-9. iii. OHST The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology. Edited by John Webster, Kathryn Tanner, and Iain Torrance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Pride Richard Hooker, ‘A Learned Sermon on the Nature of Pride,’ FLE, V.309-61. PRRD R.A. Muller, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, ca.1520 to ca.1725. Second edition. 5 vols. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic,
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