Littlejohn, W. Bradford. The peril and promise of Christian liberty : Richard Hooker, the Puritans, and Protestant political theology

Folger bibliographic ID: 356932
Folger call number: BT809 .L58 2017
Folger holdings ID: 505014

How do Christians determine when to obey God even if that means disobeying other people? In this book W. Bradford Littlejohn addresses that question as he unpacks the magisterial political-theological work of Richard Hooker, a leading figure in the sixteenth-century English Reformation. Littlejohn shows how Martin Luther and other Reformers considered Christian liberty to be compatible with considerable civil authority over the church, but he also analyses the ambiguities and tensions of that relationship and how it helped provoke the Puritan movement. The heart of the book examines how, according to Richard Hooker, certain forms of Puritan legalism posed a much greater threat to Christian liberty than did meddling monarchs. In expounding Hooker's remarkable attempt to offer a balanced synthesis of liberty and authority in church, state, and conscience, Littlejohn draws out pertinent implications for Christian liberty and politics today

General notes

Includes bibliographical references (pages 272-292) and index How do Christians determine when to obey God even if that means disobeying other people? In this book W. Bradford Littlejohn addresses that question as he unpacks the magisterial political-theological work of Richard Hooker, a leading figure in the sixteenth-century English Reformation. Littlejohn shows how Martin Luther and other Reformers considered Christian liberty to be compatible with considerable civil authority over the church, but he also analyses the ambiguities and tensions of that relationship and how it helped provoke the Puritan movement. The heart of the book examines how, according to Richard Hooker, certain forms of Puritan legalism posed a much greater threat to Christian liberty than did meddling monarchs. In expounding Hooker's remarkable attempt to offer a balanced synthesis of liberty and authority in church, state, and conscience, Littlejohn draws out pertinent implications for Christian liberty and politics today

Contents

"Different kings and different laws" : Christian liberty and the conflict of loyalties since the Reformation -- Freedom for the neighbor : Christian liberty and the demand for edification -- "Exact precise severity" : the Puritan challenge to prince and conscience -- Richard Hooker and the freedom of a "politic society" : between legalism and libertinism -- Harmonized loyalties : conscience, reason, and corporate moral agency -- The soul of a Christian commonwealth : politics in submission to the Word -- "The truth will set you free" : the peril and promise of Christian liberty

Extended title: The peril and promise of Christian liberty : Richard Hooker, the Puritans, and Protestant political theology / W. Bradford Littlejohn

Hooker, Richard, 1553 or 1554-1600 Hooker, Richard 1553-1600 Liberty Christianity and politics Protestant churches Politische Theologie Puritanismus

author: Littlejohn, W. Bradford
subject: Hooker, Richard, 1553 or 1554-1600
subject: Hooker, Richard 1553-1600