Reason, Will, and Grace in the Late Works

Abstract

Abstract Looks at the relationship between the reason, the will, and grace in Hooker’s ‘late’ writings, defined as the body of material produced in the last two years of his life in response to the Christian Letter of 1599, a tract attacking books one to five of the Lawes for allegedly holding a variety of positions contrary to the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England. Concentrating on those articles directly related to Hooker’s doctrine of grace, the chapter very carefully analyses these writings, demonstrating his evasiveness when confronted over this aspect of his theology. It is argued that through veiling his views on common grace he is able to sound characteristically Reformed, even while in reality continuing to distance himself from a Reformed interpretation of these articles. In this respect, therefore, the Christian Letter had correctly perceived the implications of Hooker’s theology in the Lawes, as moving away from the Reformed tradition in his view of human nature and grace.