Regi Addictissimus
Completely sold out to the King
John Hooper was a Protestant martyr. He was charged with heresy and burned alive at the stake on Feb.9, 1555. Hooper was 60 years old at the time of being martyred. See below the portion on Psalm 23 for a brief bio.
¶ A Psalme of David.
He shall fede me in a grene pasture, & leade me forth besyde the waters of comforte.
He shall conuerte my soule, & brynge me forth in the pathes of ryghteousnes for hys names sake.
Yee though I walke thorowe the valleye of the shadow of death, I wyll feare no euell, for thou art wt me thy rodde & thy staffe comforte me.
Thou shalt prepare a table before me agaynst them that trouble me: thou hast anoynted my head wt oyle, & my cuppe shalbe full.
But louynge kyndnes & mercy shall folowe me all the dayes of my lyfe. & I wyll dwell in the house of the Lord for euer.
(From the Great Bible for context on his comments about "converting a man's soul.")
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD’S GRACE DOES NOT FREE US FROM OBEDIENCE TO HIM. JOHN HOOPER: Now as King David in this text has wonderfully set forth the miserable nature of all God’s sheep and made himself an example, that the nature and condition of all human beings is corrupt, wicked and damnable, so that it cannot be a partaker of God’s blessings and eternal grace unless it is born again, amended, restored and instructed, so also he shows that no one converts a person’s soul but the heavenly Father, the great Shepherd who both sees the lost state of his sheep and by his mercy wills to save and call home the sheep again. David goes even further and shows what the heavenly Shepherd will do with his sheep. He says, “He will lead them into paths of justice.” In which the prophet declares that it is not only God who converts the person from evil but also he alone who keeps him in goodness and virtue. Thus, an incredible misery and wretchedness in the soul and body of human beings is revealed; we can neither begin nor even continue in a life acceptable to God unless God wholly works the same himself in us.And as it declares the incredible wretchedness of human beings, it also reveals and proclaims an incredible and unspeakable mercy and compassion of God toward human beings: he so marvelously and graciously cannot be content to help and save his enemy and adversary. And this is required of everyone the Lord converts from iniquity and sinful living, that they walk in the same law and life in equity and justice as is fitting for obedient men and women redeemed with the Shepherd’s most precious blood.
For the Lord does not teach his sheep the truth so that they can live in falsehood. Nor does he give them the remission of their sins so that they can return to them again. Rather, he does this so that they would studiously apply and diligently exercise themselves in virtuous works to the honor of almighty God. EXPOSITION UPON PSALM 23.7
Selderhuis, Herman J., Timothy George, et al., eds. Psalms 1–72: Old Testament. VII. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2015. Print. Reformation Commentary on Scripture.
Hooper, John (c. 1495–1555), Bp. of Gloucester and Worcester, and Protestant martyr. A native of Somerset, he was educated at Oxford before entering the Cistercian Priory of Cleeve. On the dissolution of the religious houses he went to London and began to interest himself in the Continental Reformers, esp. H. Zwingli and H. Bullinger, and returned to Oxford to propagate their views. After a disputation with S. Gardiner, Bp. of Winchester, he was exiled for heresy and spent the next years travelling in Europe. From 1547 to 1549 he lived at Zurich, where he became friends with Bullinger and J. Laski. In 1549 he came back to England and was made chaplain to the Protector Somerset. In 1550 he was nominated to the see of Gloucester, which he accepted only after the reference to angels and saints had been omitted from the Oath of Supremacy and after further prolonged hesitation on the lawfulness of episcopal vestments, which led to a short term of imprisonment. In 1552, when Gloucester was temporarily reunited with the see of Worcester, Hooper was made bishop of the new diocese. He governed his diocese with exemplary zeal and vigour, introducing, however, many Continental customs. He was also very liberal to the poor. On the accession of Mary he was imprisoned in the Fleet in 1553. In 1555 he was tried for heresy, and having refused to recant was excommunicated and burned at the stake (9 Feb. 1555). One of the chief English exponents of extreme Zwinglian Protestantism, he exercised a considerable influence on the later Puritans through his writings, which include A Godly Confession and Protestation of the Christian Faith (1551) and A Brief and Clear Confession of the Christian Faith, containing an hundred Articles acc. to the Order of the Creed of the Apostles (1581).
Cross, F. L., and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church 2005 : 794. Print.
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