*Facts about the book

The Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie is Hooker's best-known work, with the first four books being published
in 1594. The fifth was published in 1597, while the final three were published posthumously, and indeed may not
all be his own work. Structurally, the work is a carefully worked out reply to the general principles of Puritanism as
found in the "Admonition" and Thomas Cartwright's follow-up writings, more specifically:

1.Scripture alone is the rule that should govern all human conduct;

2.Scripture prescribes an unalterable form of Church government;

3.The English Church is corrupted by Roman Catholic orders, rites, and ceremonies;

4.The law is corrupt in not allowing lay elders;

5."There ought not to be in the Church Bishops".

Of the Lawes has been characterized as "probably the first great work of philosophy and theology to be written in
English". The book is far more than a negative rebuttal of the puritan claims: it is (here McAdoo quotes John S.
Marshall) "a continuous and coherent whole presenting a philosophy and theology congenial to the Anglican Book
of Common Prayer and the traditional aspects of the Elizabethan Settlement".

It is a massive work that deals mainly with the proper governance of the churches ("polity"). The Puritans
advocated the demotion of clergy and ecclesiasticism. Hooker attempted to work out which methods of organizing
churches are best. What was at stake behind the theology was the position of Queen Elizabeth I as the Supreme
Governor of the Church. If doctrine were not to be settled by authorities, and if Martin Luther's argument for
the priesthood of all believers were to be followed to its extreme with government by the Elect, then having the
monarch as the governor of the church was intolerable. On the other side, if the monarch were appointed by God
to be the governor of the church, then local parishes going their own ways on doctrine were similarly intolerable.

*Key issues discussed

Hooker's monumental work was the first substantial contribution to theology, philosophy, and
political thought written in English. It is important for the language and thought of all three fields and is
a founding text of Anglophone cultural identity, in particular the self-understanding of the Church of
England and its descendants in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Its great human interest lies in its
author's personal engagement with the most divisive religious and political issues of his day. But the
depth of Hooker's treatment of these issues and the extraordinary range of sources he brings to bear on
them makes the Laws a book not only for its own age but for any time
when human reason and the human spirit seek coherence

-7 forms of law

Eternal Law, Celestial Law, Natural Law, Law of Reason, Human Positive Law, Divine Law,
Ecclesiastical law. Hooker suggested that the bible is the guide in the matters of eternal law, divine law,
and celestial law. He mentioned that rational faculty of humans is the guide in the matters of natural
law, human positive law and law of reason.

-The bible
 For Hooker, the mistake of his Puritan opponents was to think that the Bible is an exhaustive
source of laws of both kinds. The Bible is neither a complete nor an incomplete law book. Law, as the
form of compatible variety, is also the form in which God's ‘abundance’ is to be perceived and
experienced. Outside the abiding truths about the sort of life God's life is and the dignity given to
creatures, human intelligence and ingenuity and prudence have a wide remit. According to Hooker, the
most basic rebellion is to refuse the limits that make compatible variety possible. Law assumes, then,
that we do not ‘begin socially as a set of unrelated atoms, whether individuals, classes, races or interest
groups. Our basic position is one of potential agents in a negotiation through which we discover our
welfare, and discover something we do not know at the start. Key theological notions are creation and
the Body of Christ.
-God's acceptance

the most basic sense of law, for Hooker, is God's acceptance of the logic of a limited creation. A
crucial concept is ‘compatible variety’, and this should be kept in mind when reading Hooker on the laws
of nature, the laws of society, and the law that regulates the Church. Also of importance is the
distinction between the unchangeable basics, in Church or state, and those laws that contribute to the
maintenance of this or that particular society or Christian community. 

*Summary

in of the ecclesiastical polity, Hooker talks about how to find the middle way between Catholicism and
Protestantism, He defended the Anglican church or church of England against the accuses of roman catholic church
and puritans both. The basic idea of hooker was to establish moderation and supporting reason. According to
puritans, bible was the final authority and they upheld that if someone is not living strictly as per the norms
mentioned in bible, then he is a sinner. Similarly, catholic supported the supreme authority of roman papal or the
church tradition. Hooker on the other hand said that the bible couldn’t contain all the information required for
current day living and apart from bible and the church, human intellect is a good authority to suggest how to lead a
pious life. Hooker summarizes that A law therefore generally taken, is a directive rule unto goodness of
operation. The rule of voluntary agents on earth is the sentence that Reason giveth concerning the
goodness of those things which they are to do. And the sentences which Reason giveth are some more
some less general, before it come to define in particular actions what is good.