Autorité de l'Ecriture et autorité ecclésiastique dans l'Eglise d'Angleterre : L'héritage de Richard Hooker

Abstract

Locke's marked praise of Richard Hooker's seminal work, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Polity, shows that the Elizabethan divine's work was appreciated by political philosophers. Olivier Layer's thesis (1977) also extensively proved that Hooker's reflection went far beyond mere problems of church organization and ceremonial. Hooker aimed at defending the Elizabethan Religious Settlement against harsh criticism originating either from the Roman Catholic or from the Puritan sides. Although he firmly adhered to the three great Protestant principles-sola scriptura, sola fides, sola gratia-and refused the Roman Catholic view of Tradition, Hooker nevertheless considered that Scripture only contained divine law as far as man's salvation through Christ was concerned and therefore embarked in a complex and thorough analysis of the concept of law, and of authority, which implied an outright rejection of all forms of religious enthusiasm and granted a fairly wide scope for the exercise of reason. He can therefore be considered as the forerunner or founding father of Anglican rationalism.