This thesis considers the contribution of seventeenth-century responses to the Polity towards the creation of Hooker's Anglican identity. It begins with an examination of the growing tensions between the old Refonned understanding of Hooker, and the new Laudian desire to comprehend the Polity as the expression of a distinctive doctrinal religious settlement. Although the dominance of the latter group was temporarily eclipsed by the Civil War it was their understanding of Hooker which emerged as the authentic opinion of the English Church at the Restoration. The examination of the Restoration response to Hooker considers how his recently established image as an Anglican father was perpetuated, the methods used to suppress rival assessments, and the weaknesses of this interpretation. The accession of the Catholic James effectively challenged the Restoration Hooker-sponsored belief in passive obedience, and challenged his Anglican credentials through the large numbers of Catholics who cited the Polity in support of the Roman Church. The long term effects of this upon Hooker are evaluated during the reign of William and Mary. The Whig desire to justify William encouraged them to exploit Hooker's belief in an original political compact, and to encourage more latitudinarian ideas within the Church. Restoration ideologies, however, were far from moribund. Several Tories were able to reconcile their opinions to the change of monarchs, and others waited until the reign of Anne where they endeavoured to put the political and religious clock back. This dominance was only temporary, however, since the advent of the Hanoverians led to the swift resurgence of the Whigs. Nevertheless this did nothing to undermine the now universal belief that Hooker was the leading exponent of the English Church. Although Hooker had anticipated that the Polity would be read as, a Reformed text, it had been turned into a specifically Anglican work within a century of his death.

Thesis (B. Div.)--Northwestern Theological Seminary, 1954. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-70).

Univ., Diss.--Münster, 1994.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Abstract available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2009 Sep. 21.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The English reformation, unlike that in Germany and Switzerland, evolved over a fairly long span of time. At first Luther's works were sold unchecked by English booksellers, being first prohibited in 1520. Over the next few years the advance of reforming ideas was considered so serious as to merit the further attention of the English Crown. By 1524 it was found necessary to enforce a law prohibiting the importation of theological texts into England, and efforts were made to suppress the further spread of the Protestant heresy throughout the realm. However, despite the Act of Parliament and a wave of persecutions the church was unable to stop the influx of prohibited books, which came off the printing presses of Germany and the Low Countries. With the aid of the revised version of the S.T.C. and additional catalogues of early printed writings, it has been possible to compile a list of foreign publications, all of which were intended for the English reader. These texts printed in the vernacular were written and commissioned by English writers forced into exile for their own safety, but also determined to establish Protestant Ideas In their own country. It is difficult to determine the exact numbers of Protestant books entering the country, but some Indication of their appeal can be found from the lists of prohibited books issued by the Ecclesiastical authorities. A detailed examination of these publications yields a clear picture of the theological teaching of Englands earliest Protestants. By carefully comparing these ideas with those of earlier heretics and contemporary reformers, it has been possible to assess the extent to which outside ideas has influenced the minds of these men. Further analysis has revealed the original and subtle genius of men who combined the ideas of the Continental reformers with those native to the English tradition, in order to produce a reformed theology which appealed to the unique situation in their own country.

No description available.