"The care of souls cannot belong to the civil magistrate, because his power consists only in outward force; but true and saving religion consists in the inward persuasion of the mind, without which nothing can be acceptable to God."
Philosopher John Locke, along with thinkers such as Thomas
Hobbes and Rene Descartes, is often blamed by Christian social ethicists for
misappropriating the natural law tradition, articulating unbiblical views of
human nature, and generally secularizing modern Western political reflection.
Even in the face of these serious charges, Locke's influence on modern views
of liberty is profound, and his place in the classical liberal tradition is
secure. With such a controversial legacy, his life and thought merit close attention.
Born in Somerset, England, on August 29, 1632, Locke studied
at Oxford, eventually receiving a degree in medicine. His medical practice led
to his association with Lord Ashley, later the first Earl of Shaftesbury. Locke
later retired to France, but when his patron fell into disrepute with the English
government, Locke fled to Holland, living in secret and under assumed names.
This clandestine life was fateful, for he became involved in the plans to place
the silent Dutchman William of Orange on the English throne, in what came to
be known as the Glorious Revolution. This watershed moment in English constitutional
history generated Locke's most famous work, Two Treatises of Government,
which provided a theoretical framework for the revolution's political events.
In addition to his contributions in Two Treatises to
the ideas of the rule of law, separation of powers, and limited government,
Locke's arguments in favor of religious toleration, expressed most clearly in
his Letters Concerning Toleration, likewise have been foundational. As
one commentator summarized Locke's view, “We have a right to religious
freedom because the nature of faith itself is contradicted by compulsion.”
Locke correctly observed that the mind “cannot be compelled to the belief
of anything by outward force,” but laws, ultimately, are upheld by force.
However, such coercion is not reconcilable with authentic religious belief.
As Locke concludes, “The magistrate's power extends not to the establishing
of any articles of faith, or forms of worship, by the force of his laws. For
laws are of no force at all without penalties, and penalties in this case are
absolutely impertinent, because they are not proper to convince the mind.”
Letters Concerning Toleration would come to be, in the American colonies,
the primary inspiration for the more wide-reaching religious freedoms (embracing
Jews and Roman Catholics, which Locke's view denied) of the Virginia Declaration
of Religious Freedom.
Sources: John Locke: A Letter Concerning Toleration edited
by James H. Tully (Hackett Publishing, 1983), and The Triumph of Liberty
by Jim Powell (The Free Press, 2000).
