And just like that… we’re onto the Saintly Sixteen. Round 2 of Lent Madness begins NOW.
The Memphis Martyrs punched the final ticket to the dance, and frankly the Memphis Grizzlies could learn a thing or two from Constance and her companions after they dominated the Martyrs of Uganda to close out the first round 75.25% to 24.75%
But enough warm-ups. The second round tips off with a matchup that may cause some serious Episco-Lutheran tension. It’s Richard Hooker vs. Martin Luther.
Forget full communion… today it’s denomination domination. Does Luther have a three-legged stool to stand on? Does Hooker have 95 theses, but a trip to the Elate Eight ain’t one?
Read the blogs, watch the video, and cast your vote. Only one reformer is rolling on. 🏆
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a revolutionary monk who kick-started the Protestant Reformation and the Lutheran Church in the early 1500s. Martin had a way with words, notably in his 95 Theses, which he nailed to the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral in 1517. Scholars theorize that he didn’t really start out wanting to break away from the Roman Catholic Church – but several of the theses are rather in-your-face. (For example: In Thesis #86, Luther wants to know why the Pope, being one of the richest people on the planet, asks for offerings to build churches instead of financing them himself.)
Luther stood trial at the Diet at Worms, and famously refused to back down, saying: “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”
By arguing that both the popes and the ecumenical councils had erred in interpreting the scriptures, Luther was again not helping his “I promise I am not a heretic” case, and he was convicted. However, a friendly neighboring German prince hid him on his way back from the trial, and he was saved from immediate arrest.
It actually took the Roman curia a few more years to decide that Luther’s work was actually heresy. Initially, when Luther was told of the papal bull which declared him a heretic, Luther assumed it was a mean joke by a rival theologian (theologians being notorious pranksters after all.) Once he was given a copy of Exsurge Domine, which declared 41 sentences of his to be heresy (though didn’t specify which ones), and gave him 60 days to recant, Luther published a response pamphlet entitled “Against the Execrable Bull of the Antichrist”. On the day he was supposed to recant, he cancelled his classes at Wittenburg, marched his students down to the town gates, lit an enormous bonfire, and threw copies of the papal bull into it.
Clearly, Luther was not a chill, calm person, but as he himself said–”Be a sinner and sin boldly; but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly.”
— Megan Castellan
Richard Hooker
If he isn’t remembered for anything else, Richard Hooker will be remembered for the three words that define Anglicanism: Scripture. Tradition. Reason. The three-legged stool.
Educated, a church scholar, a leader, Richard Hooker is the "Father of Anglican Theology."
Born when Mary was queen, ordained and married when Elizabeth ruled, he served churches throughout the English countryside. As a leading theologian, he was embroiled in the Protestant Reformation. And his words echo through the ages to today.
Through his comprehensive and groundbreaking (and earth-shattering!) eight volume work “The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity,” Hooker defended the Reformation and all that went with it. It’s here that he argued all belief in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is grounded in Scripture, Tradition, and Reason (there’s that three-legged stool again!). He upheld the Book of Common Prayer and shaped the Anglican via media between Protestantism and Catholicism.
Hooker had much to say about aspects of life: “Of two Evils we take the less.”
On change: "Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.”
On religion and society: "For if the course of politic affairs cannot in any good sort go forward without fit instruments, and that which fitteth them be their virtues, let Polity acknowledge itself indebted to Religion.”
On human judgment: "To live by one man's will becomes the cause of all misery.”
On authority: "For men to be tied and led by authority, as it were with a kind of captivity of judgment... this were brutish.”
On speech: "The end of speech is to teach, to inform, to persuade, and to move".
On goodness: "Whatsoever is good; the same is also approved of God.”
On ministry: "Even ministers of good things are like torches, a light to others, waste and destruction to themselves.”
On law: "Of law there can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world.”
While Hooker had many detractors (like the Puritans!), he attracted some notable fans: Pope Clement VIII is said to have stated that Hooker’s work “had in it such seeds of eternity that it would abide until the last fire shall consume all learning.”
Renowned English author and apologist C.S. Lewis was quoted that, in England, "controversy had involved only tactics; Hooker added strategy.”
King James I, in Hooker’s biography, said, "I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected language; but a grave, comprehensive, clear manifestation of reason, and that backed with the authority of the Scriptures, the fathers and schoolmen, and with all law both sacred and civil."
In addition to the “The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity,” Hooker’s other writings include a collection of his sermons.
— Neva Rae Fox
75 comments on “Martin Luther vs. Richard Hooker”
I revere and respect Dr Hooker, but I have to give my vote to the guy who started it all.
With all due respect, Martin Luther wasn't "the guy who started it all". John Wycliffe (1338-1384)was calling for church reform ahundred or so years before Martin got in the gamme. You might wantto check out a bunch of mediaeval English reformers called the Lollards, too.
Shoutout to the Lollards!!
For anyone who is considering voting for Luther please read a synopsis of his anti-Semitic treatise at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Jews_and_Their_Lies. This was not the work of a young man, but rather written just a few years before his death (when he realized he wasn’t able to convert God’s chosen people to Protestantism).
Thanks for that. I'm glad you got in early.
Indeed. This is why I can't vote for Luther, despite being raised a Lutheran.
One quote tips the balance for me: "To live by one man's will becomes the cause of all misery.”
Yet here we are today, miserable because of one man's "feeling.". Sheesh.
Our you referring to our modern King Saul? Feels worthy of an essay!
Even to live by my one will alone leads to misery, let alone that of another, more fallible man.
Me too. Timely.
Tough one
Ultimately swayed by the audacious act of going to the street with students to speak truth to power. Luther gets the vote
Where are the comments?
I found them.
As an episcopalian,I need to go with hooker
I vote for Hooker because I think his discussion of what happens at Communion is the best I've ever read. In Book 5, he has a long discussion of the pros and cons of tran- and con-substantiation, and then suddenly brings us to the Last Supper, where the living Jesus was both present as a person and present in each disciple, through the faith in each heart. My own faith has never been the same!
I never have cared for Luther's antisemitism.
No contest for me today. First, Richard Hooker is the man who defined Anglicanism and gave us the three-legged stool of Scripture/Reason/Tradition. Second, I have long cherished this quote from Hooker's 'A Learned Discourse of Justification': "God is no captious sophister, eager to trip us up for what we say amiss, but a courteous tutor, ready to amend what, in our weakness or our ignorance, we say ill, and to make the most of what we say aright."
I'm hooked on Hooker.
I voted for Richard Hooker because I had him in my bracket (I do love Martin Luther too though!) I really enjoyed reading the quotations from Hooker's writings (I graduated seminary but I cannot see myself reading all 8 volumes of Hooker's book lol). Does anyone know if those quotations were from the 8 volumes or from Hooker's sermons?
Neva Rae does it again! I was going to vote for Martin of the 93 but Richard’s 3 took the day.
(& his quotes Neva Rae provided should be on posters today)’
This was a tough choice. The "reason" leg of the stool alone reminded me of EfM, but that also reminded me of speaking truth to power which both men did powerfully. I love Luther's in-your-face stand.Then I read the comments about the antisemitic issue. I would not vote for Hooker only because I am Episcopalian, but I cannot knowingly vote for someone who was antisemitic. Much thanks to the comments.This choice became easy today.
Catholic in sacraments, Protestant in theology and beliefs and church structure. I'm hooked on Hooker!
Without Martin Luther, Richard Hooker would not have a three legged stool to sit on. My vote goes to the man that started, although unexpected, the Protestant Reformation. God’s Grace led him to Ephesians 2:8 as well as other Biblical references that it is not a Pope nor man who can save and redeem us.
Scripture, tradition, and reason, that's why I voted for Hooker. I like James I comment.
Wow!
Change is difficult! Is it worth the inconvenience even when done for good?
Luther changed much of the way I look at the grace of God. And my recent change to the Lutheran Church upset some of my family and friends. I fit better in the ELCA.
At 80 years old do I care if I'm criticized or chall;enged or even wrong. Not so much!
Again, Richard Hooker. Readers may quail at the periodic sentences--but read them aloud in full; they roll easily off the tongue. Read aloud the others he quotes (to refute them): very difficult to read, the words stumble. A rare gift, to write prose that reads aloud easily.
Acknowledging and rejecting the antisemitism of Martin Luther, I vote for him because he was an activist, and because he valued dogs. "The dog is the most faithful of animals and would be much esteemed were it not so common. Our Lord God has made His greatest gifts the commonest". I was also expecting him to be the underdog, as it were, and was surprised to see such an even contest.
Sadly, valued and respected dogs more than he did his Jewish neighbors.
Tough one. Luther’s anti-semitism and his stand against the peasants in the revolt are terrible. However, as an Episcopalian, although not a cradle one, I think the Tradition part of the three-legged stool is often over-emphasized. After all, women not being ordained was a tradition until recently.
As it was in the Lutheran tradition; they weren't ahead of us by much.
Simply great quotes from Hooker this morning.... (and a rather meager piece on Luther).
While I reject antisemitism, Martin Luther was the catalyst for the break away from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Hooker built on the blocks Luther established.
This was a hard choice. Before reading the write-ups I was inclined to vote for Hooker. The story of Luther taking his students out to burn the papal bull on the day he was supposed to recant almost changed my mind. But the quotes in the write-up for Hooker are so splendid. Especially the very currently pertinent one already referred to earlier in these comments: "To live by one man's will becomes the cause of all misery.” I had to go with Hooker. Besides, I love the three-legged stool. That's part of the reason I'm an Episcopalian.
As a reformed and catholic Hooker, I have to stay true to Richard. I will admit that Ralph Fiennes provides an attractive alternative, and I am only too painfully aware of the piles of Execrable Bull that our so-called leaders are shovelling at us. They want Oil Now to fuel their AI schemes, and they will sacrifice all the people’s treasure and all the people’s sons and daughters to satisfy the devices and desires of their craven hearts. With prayers for el pueblo in Venezuela and Cuba, and for the ummah in Gaza and Iran, I vote for Hooker.
I ENJOY the Lent Madness, but am not that educated on Religion, but it is good to read the lives of the Marter's you pick.
Still a Martin Luther girl.
ELCA pastor here. Martin all the way! Here I stand. I can do nothing else. God help me!
While I love our Anglican tradition, Martin Luther was the MOST influential person in starting on the pathway. I voted for Martin.
John Wycliff is getting no respect around here
It's Scripture, REASON, and Tradition, in that order!
I'm an episcopalian convert. It was the three legged stool that brought me in and keeps me.