For some time I’ve wanted to discuss Richard Hooker on the podcast, not least because we seldom speak about the continuing importance of figures from church history on Mere Fidelity. This week, while the other crew members were away, I took the opportunity to invite Brad Littlejohn and Michael Lynch on the show for a discussion of the topic. We explore the historical context and some of the themes of Hooker’s work, before discussing his relevance to the contemporary social and political situation.

Brad Littlejohn is the author of an introduction to the work of Richard Hooker (which I interviewed him about on Mere Orthodoxy). Within the episode, we also discuss Brad’s work with the Davenant Trust and upon their recent modernization work on Hooker’s Law of Ecclesiastical Polity (although written in English, Hooker’s prose is like a vast cathedral of argumentation that is difficult for most readers to take in). The following is a video of Brad reading a section from the modernization of the preface.

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