Tuesday, November 3, 2009

In Praise of Richard Hooker

O God of truth and peace, who raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today we celebrate one of the great lives, minds, and practitioners of Classical Anglicanism: Richard Hooker. His gift for applying rigorous logic in the service of the Faith was not motivated by anger or obsession, but by a love of the Truth – something greater than all our systems and techniques can adequately express. In all of his profound and at times challenging writing there always remains a basic humility, a reticence in the presence of the Divine Mystery. For this example of the Theologian’s “art,” we must needs be truly thankful in our polarized, emotionalized, and often woefully-ignorant day. May God raise up more like him: a learned divine, a faithful pastor, a humble man of holy desire.

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