“So Natural Is the Union of Religion with Justice”: Hooker’s Defense of Religious Establishment

Abstract

One of the greatest contributions of Anglican theology has been its consistent defense of the value of public religious establishment, and the classic defense remains that of Richard Hooker in his Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1593–1600). In the opening chapters of Book V of the Laws, Hooker offers a compelling argument that religion is a crucial support to a well-ordered and virtuous polity while seeking to forestall the objection that this “instrumentalizes” religion to merely political ends. He also acknowledges the generic value of any kind of public reli- gion while nonetheless contending that the wise ruler must choose that religion that is true, namely, Christianity. Hooker’s defense of religious establishment remains relevant in a Western world coming to terms with the contradictions of secular pluralism. KEYWORDS: Anglicanism, religious establishment, public religion, Richard Hooker, civic virtue, justice