Thanks for giving Hooker his due Toby. Just one quibble:
"While Hooker was appreciative of Calvin’s work in Geneva and agreed that Scripture must check and correct all of life, he held a far more optimistic view of what he called the Law Natural – or the Law of Reason"
While I am glad that this is not the cartoon view of history that we usually get of Anglicans vs Calvinists (e.g. Shelley's Church History), I don't really think Hooker had a more optimistic view of human nature than Calvin. My tentative understanding is that when Calvin expresses "pessimism" about human nature, it's soteriological and not so much about human law and Scripture. I know for a fact that Hooker was very pessimistic about human sinfulness and that he did have a high view of Scripture as a perfect instantiation of the natural law.
Slightly off topic, but this biography of Jane Grey was really great: https://a.co/d/jlh0u2b. Details her correspendence with Bullinger and her genuine Protestant zeal. She was not a mere pawn but very educated and wise.
Thanks for giving Hooker his due Toby. Just one quibble:
"While Hooker was appreciative of Calvin’s work in Geneva and agreed that Scripture must check and correct all of life, he held a far more optimistic view of what he called the Law Natural – or the Law of Reason"
While I am glad that this is not the cartoon view of history that we usually get of Anglicans vs Calvinists (e.g. Shelley's Church History), I don't really think Hooker had a more optimistic view of human nature than Calvin. My tentative understanding is that when Calvin expresses "pessimism" about human nature, it's soteriological and not so much about human law and Scripture. I know for a fact that Hooker was very pessimistic about human sinfulness and that he did have a high view of Scripture as a perfect instantiation of the natural law.
Slightly off topic, but this biography of Jane Grey was really great: https://a.co/d/jlh0u2b. Details her correspendence with Bullinger and her genuine Protestant zeal. She was not a mere pawn but very educated and wise.