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Finding Locke’s God: The Theological
Basis of John Locke’s Political Thought

Nathan Guy
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Finding Locke’s God
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edited by Jack Stetter and Charles Ramond
Finding Locke’s God
The Theological Basis of John Locke’s
Political Thought
Nathan Guy
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vi
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Abbreviations x
Introduction 1
Part 1 In Defense of the Religious Turn
1 The New Perspective on Locke: The Religious (Re)Turn in Locke

Scholarship 15
2 Life in the Areopagus: Secular Echoes, Religious Refrain 31
3 Locke and the Latitudinarians: Locke’s Religious Experience
and Theological Influences in the Context of Seventeenth-Century
England 51
Part 2 From a “Religious” to a “Theological” Turn: Tracing

Locke’s Theological Argumentation
4 The God of Christianity and the Foundations of Morality 77

5 Natural Law, the Law of Nature, and a Theology of Creation 105
6 Revelation, Reason, and Scripture 131
Conclusion 151
Notes 153
Bibliography 219
People Index 237
Subject Index 240
Locke’s Works Index 243
Acknowledgments
To form a young gentleman as he should be … [involves] an art not to be

learnt nor taught by books. Nothing can give it but good company and
observation join’d together.
—John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1692), 93.
I am extremely grateful for the “good company” of family, educators, colleagues,

and friends who have shaped not only my thinking but also my life. The initial
impetus to read Locke came nearly a decade ago through a series of engaging
lectures and conversations at the London School of Economics and Political
Science (LSE). Alex Voorhoeve, Luc Bovens, Katrin Flikschuh, and Paul Kelly
all had a hand in raising my interest, while my friend and classmate Garnett
Genuis encouraged me to turn my interest into a larger project. The idea for
this book began to take shape a few years later while conducting research in
the Theology faculty of the University of Cambridge. I found myself surround
by “good company” who modeled a perfect blend of erudition, generosity, and
refined grace. I think especially of Andrew Davison, Douglas Hedley, Janet
Soskice, and the late and lamented John Hughes. My gratitude belongs to
St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge, not only for providing an ideal living and
learning environment for three wonderful years but also for awarding me the
John Coventry Prize for my work.
The funding for my years in England came through the generosity of Harding
University’s executive committee. My special thanks belong to this “good company”
of executives, especially David Burks, Bruce McLarty, and Mike Williams.
Returning home from the UK, I enjoyed the “good company” of kind and
generous souls who volunteered their time to aid me in my further research and
preparation. I wish to thank the able librarians at Harding University (especially
Justin Lillard, Holly Tidwell, and Emillia Cline), the students of my Locke
Seminar; my colleagues Mac Sandlin, Jim Bury, and Jordan Guy for their careful
and critical eye; and two graduate students from Harding School of Theology
who lent their invaluable assistance: Lance Hedrick and Jackson House.
In preparing my research, I had the good fortune to present my findings and
hone my argument through various presentations at Pepperdine University,
Acknowledgments ix
Faulker University’s Jones School of Law, Heritage Christian University, and

Harding University. To all those involved in providing these opportunities
(especially Layne Keele, Joshua Fullman, Jeremy Barrier, Danny Mathews, Tim
Willis, and Dale Manor), I extend a sincere “thank you.”
Two Locke scholars who read portions of my work and offered feedback
have also immensely blessed me. Early in the process, Victor Nuovo gave me
both encouragement and critical feedback. In the penultimate stages of book
preparation, Greg Forster offered his assistance. Greg’s careful reflection and
incisive comments helped make this a better book. For their generosity and
assistance, I am grateful.
I also wish to thank Colleen Coalter (Senior Commissioning Editor at
Bloomsbury), Helen Saunders and Becky Holland (Editorial Assistants), and two
excellent copy editors—Shanmathi Priya Sampath and Sudha Soundrapandiyan—
for bringing this dream to completion.
Finally, to my family, I thank you. My parents and brothers have been
encouraging and supportive every step of the way. It was in the initial stages of
dreaming up this project that I met the love of my life. To my wife, Katie, I owe
much of my happiness and all of my love. Here’s to you, babe.
Nathan Guy
Abbreviations
1st T John Locke, “First Treatise of Government” [1690], in John Locke,

Two Treatises of Government, a critical edition with an introduction
and apparatus criticus, ed. Peter Laslett, 2nd ed. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1967, rep. 1988), 137–263. Citations are
by numbered paragraph.
2nd T John Locke, “Second Treatise of Government” [1690], in John Locke,

Two Treatises of Government, a critical edition with an introduction
and apparatus criticus, ed. Peter Laslett, 2nd ed. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1967, rep. 1988), 265–428. Citations are
by numbered paragraph.
COR John Locke, The Correspondence of John Locke, ed. E. S. de Beer

(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976–1989), 8 vols. Citations are by volume
and page number.
E John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. Peter H.

Nidditch (1689, 1975, Revised edn. Repr., Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1979). Citations are by book, chapter, section, and page number.
L Letter (to or from John Locke), as found in COR. Citations are by

letter number.
Laws Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Preface, Book I,

Book VIII, ed. Arthur Stephen McGrade (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1989, rep. 1997).
LCT John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration [1689], ed. James H. Tully
(Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983). Citations are by page number.
LL John Harrison and Peter Laslett, The Library of John Locke [1965], 2nd
ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971). Citations are by page number.
LN John Locke, Essays on the Law of Nature [1664]: The Latin Text with a
Translation, Introduction, and Notes, Together with Transcripts of Locke’s
Abbreviations xi
Shorthand in His Journal for 1676, ed. and trans. W. von Leyden (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1954, reissued 1988). Citations are by page number.
QLN John Locke, Questions Concerning the Law of Nature [1664]: With
an Introduction, Text, and Translation, trans. Robert Horwitz, Jenny
Strauss Clay, and Diskin Clay (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press,
1990). Citations are by page number.
RC John Locke, The Reasonableness of Christianity as Delivered in the

Scriptures, in The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes, 12th ed.
(London: C. Baldwin, 1824), Vol. 6, 1–158. Citations are by page
number.
ST Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, trans. Fr. Laurence Shapcote, ed.

John Mortensen and Enrique Alarcón, in Latin/English Edition of the
Works of St. Thomas Aquinas (Lander, WY: The Aquinas Institute for
the Study of Sacred Doctrine, 2012), Vols. 13–18.
STCE John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education [1693], ed. with
introduction, notes, and critical apparatus by John W. Yolton and Jean
S. Yolton (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989). Citations are by paragraph.
TIS Ralph Cudworth, True Intellectual System of the Universe: The First
Part, Wherein All the Reason and Philosophy of Atheism Is Confuted;
and Its Impossibility Demonstrated (London: Printed for Richard
Royston, bookseller to his most sacred majesty, 1678).
xii
Introduction
The portrait of a decidedly “secular” Locke held sway in many places for much
of the twentieth century. Though some did not question Locke’s personal faith
commitments (believing them to have no bearing on his political philosophy),
others described Locke as, at best, a deist (if not a closet atheist), whose use
of religious language was either incidental or insidious. For these interpreters,
Locke’s emphasis on both toleration and individual liberty is intended to push
theological matters to the periphery of political affairs and has no bearing on the
basis of his political thought.1 However, a recent spate of research questions the
assumption that Locke sought to remove theology from his political theory and,
instead, claims that the “deeply Christian” Locke establishes his political thought
on an essentially theological foundation.
This “religious turn” in Locke scholarship is often associated with the
work of Jeremy Waldron, although its roots are much deeper. Nonetheless,
Waldron’s 1999 Carlyle lectures (and their subsequent publication in 2002)
brought the discussion into the larger public arena, where history, philosophy,
theology, and political theory meet.2 A number of works, building on
Waldron’s keen insights, have issued from the presses in the last decade
seeking to further solidify the inseparable bond between Locke’s political
thought and his theological moorings.3 In this book, I will argue that the
religious turn in Locke scholarship is fundamentally correct but offer both a
historically contextual basis for such a move and a programmatic articulation
of the theological basis for Locke’s approach. Much more needs to be said
about Locke’s historical and theological context, as well as his theology in
general—not least his doctrine of creation. In this book I hope to use Locke’s
own tripartite foundation of God, the law of nature, and revelation (Christian
scripture) as a means to trace Locke’s theological position and, in so doing,
point out areas of his political philosophy in which his theology provides
grounding or makes a profound impact.
2 Finding Locke’s God
A three-fold foundation
In his 1671 draft of some initial thoughts concerning human understanding,

Locke intimates that there exist moral standards, or “rules of good & evill,”
which are “not made by us but for us.” “But,” writes Locke,
because we cannot come to a certain knowledg of these rules of our actions,

without first makeing knowne a lawgiver with power & will to reward & punish
& without shewing how he hath declard his will & law I must only at present
suppose this rule till a fit place to speake of those god the Law of nature &
revalation.4
In the place where a revised version of this material appears in the finished Essay5
of 1689, Locke prefaces his remarks by declaring the area of moral actions to be
of highest importance.6 Chief among the various “laws” to which our actions are
held accountable is “The Divine Law,” which Locke describes as
that Law which God has set to the actions of Men, whether promulgated to them
by the light of Nature, or the voice of Revelation. That God has given a Rule
whereby Men should govern themselves, I think there is no body so brutish
as to deny. He has a Right to do it, we are his Creatures: He has Goodness and
Wisdom to direct our Actions to that which is best: and he has Power to enforce
it by Rewards and Punishments, of infinite weight and duration, in another Life:
for no body can take us out of his hands. This is the only true touchstone of
moral Rectitude; and by comparing them to this Law, it is, that Men judge of the
most considerable Moral Good or Evil of their Actions; that is, whether as Duties,
or Sins, they are like to procure them happiness, or misery, from the hands of
the ALMIGHTY.7
In both cases, Locke delineates “God,” the “Law (or light) of Nature,” and
“Revelation” as foundational topics upon which his moral philosophy is
founded. Though Locke only mentions these in passing, in this book I will show
that the relationship between morality and these three areas of study provides
the key to appreciating Locke’s entire project. For Locke, a study of moral rules
requires a lawgiver (God), the law itself (law of nature), and the ultimate means
whereby we derive certain knowledge of, motivation toward, and obligation to
keep that law (revelation). It is not surprising, then, that the impetus for Locke’s
epistemological considerations (eventually culminating in the Essay) was a set
of questions concerning “the Principles of morality, and reveald Religion”—
principles that, as Nidditch rightly notes, “underlay his text” even when not
examined explicitly.8
Introduction 3
Political philosophy as a theological project
Yet this theological foundation for his moral philosophy also serves as the basis
for his central political claims. In the Second Treatise,9 the basic tenet of Locke’s
political philosophy is that human beings are “all equal and independent,” share
in “one community of nature,” and have dominion over “the inferior creatures,”
as a result of theological reasons:
For men being all the workmanship of one omnipotent, and infinitely wise
maker; all the servants of one sovereign master, sent into the world by his order,
and about his business; they are his property, whose workmanship they are,
made to last during his, not one another’s pleasure.10
Locke bases his view of human equality not only in the mere formal truth that
human beings are born “of the same species and rank” and thus reasonably
obligated to one another (in a modern humanitarian sense) but also in the
claim that humans were created by God, given a particular role in the world,
and are morally obligated to Him. Locke employs philosophical arguments for
the existence of God and readily uses Christian scripture to lend support to his
basic thesis.
Locke’s project of moral and political philosophy, then, can easily be
described as a theological one. The theological impulse that lay beneath Locke’s
political project harmonized well with some explicit teachings of a moderating
influence in seventeenth-century England. Locke was especially acquainted with
teachings and personalities associated with the Oxford Tew Circle, the London
Latitudinarians, and the Cambridge Platonists—three sources of influences,
which are each credited with developing approaches to theology that stand
between Calvinistic puritanism on the one hand and high Anglicanism on
the other. These moderates sought a middle ground through an appreciation
for common ground among monotheists, the role of reason in articulating a
minimalistic set of key religious truths, and an emphasis on the personal and
individual character of faith in contrast with any coercion by the state.11 Though
ever independent, Locke’s theological perspective is decidedly Latitudinarian
with echoes of similar moderating approaches. This background provides a
fitting framework for placing Locke’s political project within the sphere of a
moderating Christian political philosophy.
The manner and extent to which Locke’s political schema is shaped by his
religious interest has proved to be a fruitful field of study, attracting historians,
philosophers, theologians, and political scientists. Among those with theological
interests, recent studies in this regard have either focused on Locke’s epistemology,
reevaluated his use of scripture, or sought to reconstruct his personal faith
commitments. But few have attempted to bring these items together in an
articulation of the deep theological structure of his entire political system. Placing
Locke in the religious context of seventeenth-century Latitudinarians, as well as
paying careful attention to his implicit and explicit theological argumentation
throughout his writings, this book will seek to provide a more definitive study of
how Locke’s political methodology stems from a theological basis. In this sense,
Locke would better be classed as a heterodox Christian political philosopher than
credited with championing the rise of secular methodology in political affairs.
The argument of this book builds on results of previous research. With
regard to literary criticism, a critical-realist approach to reading Locke’s works is
preferable to the Straussian hermeneutic of suspicion, subversion, and charade.
In the main, Locke should be interpreted as meaning what he says.12 There
is good reason to suppose coherence and continuity among Locke’s various
writings, rather than accepting the inverse (i.e., the Laslett thesis).13 In terms of
biography, that Locke was a believing and practicing Christian, albeit heterodox,
until the day he died should now be beyond a matter of dispute.14 Furthermore,
Locke is rightly viewed as a natural law theorist, even if one concludes he is
far from traditional in his understanding.15 From these considerations, several
authors have noted that his philosophical, political, and moral outlook was
influenced (and possibly shaped) by explicitly Christian principles. A sub-point
(gaining great traction though by no means the “consensus”) is that Locke’s
ethical outlook is necessarily tethered to theological (and particularly Christian)
principles.16
However, a bird’s-eye view of the religious turn in Locke scholarship would
suggest two important moves needing to be made, both of which I attempt
to accomplish in my book. First, locating Locke within the context of the
Latitudinarians of the late seventeenth century is pivotal to understanding
how his deeply held religious beliefs echo forth in every facet of his writing
and may also serve as the impetus for how he conceives his work to be a form
of Christian political philosophy. Understanding Locke’s tolerant Christianity
and his appreciation for natural theology may help explain why Locke sounds
“secular” in his political argumentation and has wide-reaching appeal among
political philosophers and ethicists who do not share Locke’s theological
persuasion. Second, the religious turn must now give way to a more carefully
considered theological turn in which the Latitudinarian Locke works out political
implications of his views concerning God, the law of nature, and revelation—each
Introduction 5
theological element being essential to understanding what Locke wishes to do

with his political philosophy. This includes identifying Locke’s natural law theory
as part of a larger theology of creation. As a result, Locke’s political philosophy
brings forth theologically rich aims, while seeking to counter or disarm threats
such as atheism, hyper-Calvinism, and religious enthusiasm.
The category of “Christian political philosopher”
Locke’s interdisciplinary interests and instincts attracted me to his works in the

first place. For someone interested in the borders between (and the intersection
of) philosophy, theology, and political theory, studying Locke offers tremendous
strengths. At the same time, proper vocabulary—especially in terms of
singular designation—can seem elusive. Is Locke a “political theologian” or a
“theologically-interested political theorist?” Since his work has spread tentacles
into the fields of Christian public theology as well as secular political theory,
one wonders how Locke conceived of his own place in such matters. We wonder
what he is doing, what he thinks he is doing, and how his work can be employed
by those wishing to do more.
Is Locke a “public theologian”? Locke could be classified as such if one were
to take a Stackhouse-inspired definition of public theology as “theologically
informed discourse aimed at the general public.”17 Locke does this explicitly in
The Reasonableness of Christianity,18 implicitly in Book IV of the Essay, and both
implicitly and explicitly in various places in A Letter Concerning Toleration.19
Miroslav Volf and Rowan Williams offer a clearer, though more restrictive,
approach to public theology as “a matter of the church bearing public witness
to Jesus Christ, the embodiment of the good life.”20 Leslie Newbigin speaks of
public theology as a public witness taking root from within the church, offering
a robust theological vision from the church for the world.21
If public theology refers less to “theologically informed discourse for the
public” (which can be done simply as a member of the public) and more to “public
discourse about theology from the church (or as the church) for the world,” then
the claim is too strong to be applied to John Locke. His heterodox theology raises
only part of the criticism. In truth, Locke is better seen as one sympathetic to the
task of public theology and, as a working philosopher, providing philosophical
groundwork for a public sphere enabling such work to take place. He is more a
harbinger of public theology than a practicing participant. This is simply not his
field of work.
What about calling Locke a “political theologian”? This designation may be

closer to the claims of this book, but it still remains a term easily misunderstood.
If one can recognize a meaningful distinction between a “political theologian”
and a “theologically-inspired political theorist,” then the point is made. Oliver
O’Donovan sketches a helpful description of the political theologian. She does
not restrict “secular” or “religious” vocabulary or reduce the semantic range of
terms while dealing on the border between theological claims and the political
aims of public life. But the political theologian does operate with a set of lenses
that is willing to “push back the horizon of commonplace politics and open it up
to the activity of God.”22 For the political theologian, both theology and political
theory are always in view—not only as interested parties but as parties always in
conceptual dialogue:
Theology needs more than scattered political images; it needs a full political
conceptuality. And politics, for its part, needs a theological conceptuality. The
two are concerned with the one history that finds its goal in Christ, “the desire
of the nations.”23
A defensible case could be made that Locke believes this. But a much harder
case is to prove that Locke does this. O’Donovan describes “the alternative to
political theology” as one that allows religious and political spheres but wishes
to preserve distinction and separation. According to this camp, “religion may
and does shape politics through carefully guarded channels of influence that
preserve a cordon sanitaire.”24 Against this alternative, writes O’Donovan,
political theologians believe
it is not a question of adapting to alien requirements or subscribing to external

agenda, but of letting theology be true to its task and freeing it from a forced and
unnatural detachment. Political theology tries to recover for faith in God, Christ
and salvation what scepticism surrendered to mechanistic necessity.25
Given how Locke has been viewed for a century, it is not surprising that
O’Donovan seems to place Locke in this second “alternative” camp, along with
Pufendorf and Kant.26 I believe the case for viewing Locke as an advocate for
a clear distinction and separation of religion from political life is overblown,
and it is likely that Locke believed in the kind of political theology O’Donovan
has in view.27 This book lends support to the idea that Locke not only believed
in this but operated out of convictions sympathetic (and sometimes parallel)
to Christian political theologians. In the words of John Perry, the LCT shows
Locke “reenvisioning political philosophy and political theology in new ways”
Introduction 7
and “formulating a political theology in which toleration is a sign of one’s loyalty

to Christ rather than a violation of it.”28 But it is far more debatable to claim
Locke practiced as a political theologian in his works. The term may include
both “political philosopher” and “theologian” but, as it is worded, places Locke
on the “theology” side of the divide. Doing this raises more questions than it
answers, especially concerning Locke’s approach to the Trinity, the Incarnation,
and the role of the Holy Spirit, especially as the latter relates to regeneration and
sanctification.29 Something else is needed.
In this book, I settle on the phrase “Christian political philosopher.” At first
blush, the term sounds too weak, since it could be applied to anyone working in the
field of political philosophy who also happens to be Christian. It can also suggest
that Locke only does political philosophy with Christian presuppositions, rather
than engaging in theological argumentation. However, when given the options, I
prefer to bypass attaching endless disclaimers to stronger phrases in favor of filling
this designation with robustness. Greg Forster convinced me to start here:
My hypothesis would be that Locke scholarship’s fruitless detour into secularism

was largely caused by a failure to think carefully about this distinction. One
might say Locke appeared secular to 20th century scholars because they had a
category for “Secular Political Philosopher” and a category for “Christian Public
Theologian” (e.g., Augustine, Aquinas, etc.) but not a category for “Christian
Political Philosopher.”30
In this book, I adopt Forster’s suggestion. Settled between the secular political
philosopher and the Christian public theologian stands a third category occupied
by Locke: that of the Christian political philosopher, whose arguments not only
self-consciously depend upon Christian assumptions but also offer theological
argument in favor of and integrally tethered to his political theory.31 Within his
own historical context, Locke is best seen as offering a Latitudinarian political
philosophy, one flowing out of particular religious conviction. While Locke does
not demand that the civil authorities claim Jesus as Lord, his vision of society
evokes a markedly Christian understanding of life in political society, a vision
weakened the further one moves away from a particularly Christian perspective.
Outline of the book
In Chapter 1 I introduce the “religious turn” in Locke scholarship as, in truth,

the religious return in Locke scholarship. The portrait of Locke as a secular
promoter of Enlightenment rationality—incompatible with the Christian natural

law tradition—is, in fact, a largely incorrect view. I provide five pivotal historical
moves that created this general view in the mid-twentieth century and show
why each move was largely unwarranted. I then trace out the main elements of
the religious (re)turn in which Locke is read with theological sympathy as a man
whose religious views deeply influenced his political perspective. I conclude the
chapter by noting five ways the religious return may move forward in its attempt
to lay claim to the theological underpinnings of Locke’s entire political project.
In Chapter 2 I ask if the religious return is correct, why does Locke often sound
“secular” in his approach? With special attention given to the LCT, I challenge
interpreters (such as Tate) who believe Locke wished to remove theology from
the foundations of his political theory. Borrowing a model employed by Locke
himself in the RC, I claim that Locke adopts an approach similar to St. Paul as
recorded in the Areopagus account of Acts 17:16–34. Locke believes “reason”
can access much of what “the law of nature” teaches, thus providing a basic
“consensus” for a society that includes and tolerates a wide range of belief. His
interest in toleration leads him to search for language and arguments that can
cross the boundary lines between warring Christian sects and even include
those who are not Christians. Religious truths—if forming the basis of moral
life and thought—may be articulated in language that will reach the widest
audience. In fact, Locke believes what reason dictates is always in accord with
divine revelation, which offers a fuller and clearer picture. In this chapter, I note
that Locke is stretched to the extreme when seeking to tolerate non-Christian
faiths (such as Islam and Judaism), though he believes he manages to find a
way forward, based on (1) a limited view of government, claiming a different
jurisdiction than that of the church; (2) a particularly wide and generous view
of the mercy of God toward virtuous humanity; and (3) an appreciation for the
limits of awareness, since some human beings—in need of societal structures—
have yet to know or to fully appreciate the truth of the gospel. Far from distancing
himself from theology, Locke actually provides a model for Christian political
philosophy rooted in theological aims.
In Chapter 3 I begin tracing Locke’s theological roots by placing him in his
seventeenth-century religious context. While standard biographies note Locke’s
religious upbringing and his close association with theologically oriented
compatriots, few have taken seriously how Locke’s own religious commitments
motivated him to offer a Latitudinarian political philosophy. Building on the
historical perspective offered by Marshall and Spellman (among others), I
link Locke’s moral and political philosophy with Boyle’s teleology, Hooker’s
Introduction 9
ecclesiology, and the philosophical theology provided by Cambridge Platonists.

Locke’s unique insights often stem from or build upon the Latitudinarian
theology with which he was intimately acquainted; his work is less a prototype of
Rawlsian pluralistic philosophy and more akin to an early-modern recapitulation
of a Christian political philosophy, though from a decidedly open perspective.
My own contribution to this discussion is to lay out various strands of influence,
which unite in Locke’s political writings to form a coherent Christian political
philosophy—one that rests on three planks (God, the law of nature, and
revelation) to combat potential dangers.
In Chapter 4 I seek to show that, for Locke, a “true idea” of God is essential
to establish the basis of moral obligation and the foundation of moral behavior
while also serving as a model for legal punishment. This “true idea” of God is
oriented around biblical language. God, maker of heaven and earth, creates
the world ex nihilo and thus holds ownership over all things. As judge of the
living and the dead, He possesses the power to reward and punish on the basis
of right living or moral wrongdoing. Yet his very nature serves as the basis for
moral right, and the larger portrait of God provides reasonable authentication
of his true nature. Throughout Locke’s writings, he describes this God not
only as the first cause or prime mover but as the God described in the Bible
and worshiped by Christians. I conclude the chapter by suggesting that Locke
assumes only a “true idea of God” can form the real basis for his moral and
political philosophy, and this true idea of God cannot be less than a broadly
Latitudinarian perspective. Thus a relatively “thick” conception of God—one
consistent with Locke’s Christian theology—is necessary to justify the objectives
and claims of Locke’s moral and political philosophy. Locke’s deep suspicion and
intolerant attitude toward avowed atheists is a very important clue in mitigating
any notion that Locke has a purely secular motive in mind.
In Chapter 5 I move beyond a broadly Christian conception of God to
establish a narrower link: Locke’s moral and political philosophies are wedded
to his theology of creation. This creation theology explains how Locke is a
Christian natural law theorist: his theological anthropology includes a necessary
teleology, which is rooted in biblical language concerning creation (Gen. 1–2)
as well as Christological references to the life of Christ, who serves as the model
of true humanity. Locke’s natural law theory is part of his larger theology: a view
of creation that gives way to a covenantal theology. Contra hyper-Calvinism,
human responsibility and accountability become paramount concerns—not
only for issues of eternity but for present relations. In the soil of this theology,
political issues such as human equality and freedom find root.
In Chapter 6 I narrow the scope even further: not only does Locke’s theory
require a true idea of God and a particular theology of creation, but it also
includes acceptance of and dependence on God’s self-revelation and claims
made in scripture. Although Locke has a very high view of scripture, it never
culminates in fideism; instead, Locke traces the human need for special
revelation from God in order to fully grasp one’s purpose in life, the God one
serves, and the vision for how to carry out God’s purposes—all of which leads to
ultimate happiness. He traces this need in both his theological writings (such as
the RC) and, surprisingly, his philosophical works (such as the Essay). Although
he has a high view of reason, Locke admits human frailty and sinfulness require
humility; God has provided knowledge of his will, and authoritative grounds for
obligation and motivation, through the sending of Christ, and the codification
of God’s teachings in scripture. This perspective works itself out in several
elements of Locke’s moral and political theory. By way of illustration, one can
see how the second greatest commandment—to love one’s neighbor as one’s
self—is more than just some intuitive golden-rule principle; it is a binding rule
that forms part of Locke’s doctrine of property. When one considers how eternal
matters are linked to “life together” in Locke’s larger theo-political schema, it
becomes clear that he draws from scriptural language, principles, and mandates
in order to form his moral and political philosophy. Thus, contrary to religious
enthusiasm, humanity is given a reliable identifiable and universalizing witness
for guidance in matters that extend beyond religious concerns.
Finally, I summarize my findings and suggest that the intuitions of Dunn,
Waldron, Nuovo, and others who advocate a religious (re)turn to Locke’s moral
and political philosophy are correct. I will add, however, that Locke offers a
coherent Christian Latitudinarian political philosophy, the foundation of which
is set on three planks. Locke’s political theory cannot be divorced from this
wider theological perspective. I seek to advance the field of study in this area by
clarifying Locke’s “true idea of God,” relating Locke’s doctrine of creation to his
teleological theory of natural law, and showing how Locke is able to hold a high
view of reason alongside a high view of scripture. Thus I show how Locke relies
on a Christian conception of God, the law of nature, and divine revelation in
scripture in forming his political philosophy.
This research project is valuable for several reasons. First, it provides a
historical contribution to Locke scholarship, aiding in the recontextualization
of the deeply Christian structure of Locke’s political thought. After supporting
and clarifying the significance of the religious (re)turn in Lockean studies, this
book shows how Locke’s religious convictions are borne out of a particular
Introduction 11
mode of Christian thought. Second, it offers both a philosophical contribution

(e.g., locating Locke’s place in the history of the natural law tradition) and a
philosophical defense for the underlying unifying theme in Locke’s philosophical,
political, and religious works. Third, this book makes the claim that Locke owns
and operates out of a Latitudinarian-inspired theology of creation—a claim that,
if verified, would make a helpful contribution to the field of historical theology.
Additionally, this book provides groundwork for further contributions to the
fields of public and political theology and the role of religion in liberal societies.
By critically reflecting on Locke’s working perspective, issues involving church/
state relations, religious argumentation in public life, and the limits of religious
toleration may be further clarified, and Christian positions on these issues may
be enhanced.
An interdisciplinary approach
In this book, I will concentrate on Locke’s well-known political works (such

as the Two Treatises and the LCT), philosophical works (such as the Essay and
Questions Concerning the Law of Nature32), and overtly religious works (such
as the RC), while also borrowing from the entire Lockean corpus. The reason
for some restriction (regarding more obscure works) is to account for Locke’s
central lines of thought in his mature political thought, rather than chase ideas
that Locke may have initially considered and later rejected. The reason for
cross-pollination across disciplines is because Locke, at all times, is offering
considerations that are philosophical, political, and theological. Locke published
works in all three disciplines at various stages throughout his life, composing
some of them (such as the Essay and the RC) roughly simultaneously.33
Through a close reading of Locke’s defining works, I offer a philosophical
and theological analysis of Locke’s political thought offering a coherent platform
set upon three planks—Locke’s reliance on particular views of God, the law
of nature, and revelation. As such, this book is intentionally interdisciplinary.
In this book, readers will find a historical study centered on the writings of
John Locke but with studied attention to and comparison with earlier and
later approaches to political philosophy and theology. In this regard, my work
includes a philosophical investigation of political claims, with ethical implications,
rooted in Locke’s own theological premises. As a descriptive, historical task, I
situate Locke’s reasoning within the context of his Christian beliefs. In terms of
philosophical and theological analysis, I show how his political project is borne
out of coherent theological aims, and I will explain how these aims provide
grounding for his political thought. As a result, this book presents Locke as a
Christian political philosopher, whose approach reveals important clues about
his theological commitments on which his political philosophy depends.
Part One
In Defense of the Religious Turn

14
1
The New Perspective on Locke: The Religious

(Re)Turn in Locke Scholarship
A tale of two portraits
In political theory classrooms around the globe, it is quite common to be

introduced to a decidedly secular historical figure by the name of John Locke.1
As begetter of the Enlightenment, it is argued, Locke championed a strong
separation between church and state for the express purpose of distancing
and disparaging the power and influence of religious figures and structures
from the economic, social, and political life of the citizenry. Breaking with the
Theo-political traditions before him, Locke sought to usher in a secular agenda
for governance—one that removed concerns about the sacred, for the sake of
peace and economic prosperity. By favoring freedom over virtue, the individual
over the social, and rights over duties, Locke left the scholastic tradition to follow
in the train of Machiavelli.2 Though Locke’s personal religious commitments
were sometimes acknowledged, these had little to no bearing on his political
agenda. In short, theology had no place in his political theory—one that sought
secular means for secular ends in contradistinction to the theological.
This portrayal can be linked to a similar approach to Locke’s moral philosophy.
By rejecting the doctrine of innate ideas, and supporting the natural ends of
hedonistic materialism, it is argued, Locke separates himself from any natural law
foundation for his moral philosophy—despite some of his claims to the contrary.
Locke’s incomplete moral philosophy is either disconnected from his political
thought or, if connected, simply continues a nontheological bent concerned with
the formation of personal autonomy in view of material prosperity. Subjecting
all moral, political, and theological interests to the supreme test of unaided
human reason, Locke ushers in the Enlightenment project bound to remove the
tethers of private theology (and “matters of eternal interest”) from the concerns
of public life.3
However, a new perspective on Locke has emerged—especially over the last

two decades—which paints a decidedly different picture. A life-long Christian
with a deep, sincere, and abiding—albeit heterodox—faith, Locke saw matters
bearing on eternity as more weighty by far than to any that concern only this life
and declared “believing and doing those things in this Life, which are necessary
to the obtaining of Gods Favour, and are prescribed by God to that end” to be
“the highest Obligation that lies upon Mankind … Because there is nothing in
this World that is of any consideration in comparison with Eternity.”4 Believing in
a law of nature—consistent with divine revelation in the Christian scriptures—
which prescribes how humans are to see themselves in relation to one another,
Locke develops his moral and political theory not only in concert with his
religious beliefs but upon theological foundations. Humans, and the world they
inhabit, are God’s property and are “sent into the world by his order and about
his business.”5 A Christian conception of God and a doctrine of creation—both
forged out of a close reading of “infallible” scripture—provide the lens through
which Locke describes fundamental portions of the law of nature, without which
Locke’s arguments concerning freedom, equality, toleration, moral distinction,
and political power (both in terms of making and executing laws) would never
get off the ground. Locke’s writings on Christianity near the end of his life serve
as “a keystone” to interpreting his entire corpus of work, since theology “runs
through his whole work like a scarlet thread.”6
A bourgeoning field of study suggests that Locke’s theological interests
cannot be separated out from his moral and political philosophy, nor did he
intend them to be. While urging toleration among different forms of belief,
disparaging the use of force to compel faith, and separating categorically the
power of clergy from that of the magistrate, Locke never intended to separate his
theory of government from its theological moorings. Instead, Locke’s theology
can be conceived of as “constitutive” with regard to essential components of his
political and philosophical argumentation.7
On the secular trail—and why it is (mostly) wrong
How could two such radically different portraits emerge from the same set
of works? Neither the religious nor the secular reading of Locke is a modern
invention, and neither has a sole claim to antiquity. For example, one can find
philosophers and political theorists traversing the “secular” trail throughout the
three centuries separating Locke from the current scene. One can identify five
The New Perspective on Locke 17
moves, some of which cover the span between Locke’s lifetime and our own, that
have tended to the reception of Locke as fundamentally a secularist.
The first four moves: Heresy hunting, neglect, misrepresentation,

and amalgamation
The first move occurred within Locke’s own lifetime, near the end of the
seventeenth century. In a number of important cases, Locke’s writings met
opposition from clergy on religious grounds, while those with more secular
interests paraded (or misapplied) Locke’s writings in defense of their own
causes. It is well known that some of Locke’s religious contemporaries raised
serious concerns about Locke’s orthodoxy, questioning his religious credentials.8
And when Locke’s LCT was first published in English, his translator provided a
“Preface to the Reader,” which introduced the work as one advocating “Absolute
Liberty”—a position at odds with the actual stated purpose of the LCT as well
as the sentiments of the author.9 In 1696, when John Toland wrote a scathing
rebuke against those clinging to the need for divine revelation, he relied on key
facets of Locke’s epistemology to root his claims.10
Failing to appreciate the context in which Locke’s works were produced, a
“mirror reading” of Locke’s detractors—as well as those employing Lockean
arguments to suit their own ends—might suggest that Locke’s works must either
be irreligious or at least a significant threat to any religious basis for moral and
political philosophy. But Locke’s vehement defense of his writings on theological
grounds suggests that his own intention was not to subvert theological bases
for political ends but to clarify them. Just as contemporary readers of Locke’s
LCT may easily forget that the work concerns toleration of disagreements within
Christianity, readers of Locke’s early antagonists ought to remain aware of the
sense of threat from within, which was often conceived of as far greater than
that from without. Locke was considered by some within his own generation
as offering heterodox theology; nevertheless, the chief arguments concerned
theological positions present rather than absent. And, given that Locke was
greeted with such a hostile reception in some ecclesiastical quarters, those
outside or on the fringes of religion had little reason to separate their own ends
from Locke’s Christian commitments in their selective use of his works. These
actions helped shape a jaundiced approach to Locke, which would survive for
centuries to come.
The second move seems to have emerged in the eighteenth century. Given the
nearly half-century between Locke’s writings and the employment of his works
toward new desired ends, it is apparent that the political fruit of toleration,
liberty, and equality was advanced (by intent or neglect) without the same level of
regard for the theological roots, which connect Locke’s moral philosophy to his
political ends. The one considered “the most influential philosopher of modern
times”11 was virtually unread in most places of influence for the first quarter of
the eighteenth century. According to Jonathan Israel, there was a “remarkable
disinclination of leading intellectual figures early in the century to engage
seriously with Locke’s work,” a conclusion he finds “striking.”12 For example,
it was not until the 1730s that Locke garnered much influence in France, the
Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Italy, and that in the realm of epistemology.13
Though the Lochisti were a potent force in the 1740s, Locke’s Essay was only placed
on the papal Index in 1734, suggesting a lack of any notable influence until that
time.14 A similar story may be told concerning Locke’s influence in the Americas.
Although Locke is considered the father of the American Revolution, claiming
the Two Treatises was “causally responsible” for the American political scene
of the 1700s is “largely false.”15 As Dunn has ably shown, Locke’s Two Treatises
was not greatly read in the American colonies before 1750, and any significant
influences on American revolutionary sympathies “was largely confined to the
post-1760 constitutional writings of the highly educated.”16 Interestingly, the
book was not nearly as popular in eighteenth-century France or even England as
is customarily thought.17 In fact, what stands out when conducting a historical
survey of the Two Treatises’ reception history is its glaring ambiguity, being used
for differing (and sometimes, cross) purposes.
Recognizing the shelf wear on Locke’s moral and political works offers a
clue to tracing historically the deviation from Locke’s original aims through
appropriation for new desired ends. Spellman points out that in the mid-
1750s, Jean Le Rond d’Alembert’s Encyclopaedia spoke of Locke as the founder
of “scientific philosophy,” following in the footsteps of Newton, credited as the
father of “scientific physics.”18 Voltaire considered Locke to be “the Hercules of
metaphysics,” abandoning the methodology and overturning the conclusions
of the scholastics and divine right theorists. Conceiving of Locke’s works (for
nearly eighty years) passing only through the hands of a few educated persons
with their own moral and political agenda leads one to conclude with Spellman
that, whatever Locke’s intentions, his work was shaped for new purposes by “a
less devout eighteenth century” that misunderstood Locke’s central aims and
intentions.19
In the nineteenth century, one sees a third “move” take shape. A particular
(re)reading of the philosophy of history created an ill-informed sense of key
Enlightenment thinkers, read in the light of new concerns. The industrial

revolution, a grand story of societal evolution, and analysis of the many uses
of religion for social and economic purposes provided a new paradigm within
which any positive appreciation for the permeating influences of religion
struggled to survive. This move to gain a critical foothold over what was
considered to be the evil influences of religion led to the loss of a historical
perspective concerning the God-intoxicated seventeenth-century Western
culture.20 In Spellman’s words, the seventeenth was a century “where Augustine’s
‘City of God’ continued to take precedence over the evanescent city of man.”21 Yet
given a new paradigm, Christian philosophers of the past were recast as secular
champions for a new era.22 In this, political historians lost sight of the true
fulcrum of seventeenth-century social life. Standing above economics, political
structure, and personal ethics was the real issue of the age: religion and religious
authority.23 Thus a “secular” mindset was not (and ought not be) the default
assumption for how to interpret Enlightenment thinkers, including Locke.
A fourth movement that begins in the nineteenth century but carries over
into the twentieth involves a recasting of natural law theory and, to some extent,
a forgetfulness of the theological foundations that went before. According to this
model, Locke is simply lumped together with certain other thinkers as a chief
contributor to an anthropologically (and thus, not theologically) centered natural
law theory concerned with individual rights rather than societal obligations in
the shared context of a larger created order. The result, still visible in the present
day among the most ardent of religious natural law theorists, is an amalgamation
of Locke’s natural law theory with the claims of his contemporaries, which
mask Locke’s distinct contributions and hide Locke’s own defense of a previous
religious tradition.24
The fifth move: Radical skepticism

The fifth move in Locke scholarship occurred in the middle of the twentieth
century. It is both the most radical and the least plausible and can be
summarized as Straussian-inspired skepticism.25 In a series of works published
in the 1950s, Strauss argued that Locke is simply deceptive, using inconsistency
and incoherency as a stratagem to mask the fact that he is a closet Hobbesian.26
Borrowing the Platonic concept of a “noble lie,” and using a reading strategy he
applied to other historical figures, such as Maimonides, Strauss claims Locke
provides conformist exoteric teaching for the masses and a veiled subversive
esoteric teaching for the privileged few.27 Writing in an environment of severe
political persecution, Locke practices “the art of writing” by couching his true
beliefs “between the lines” of his own works, allowing “thoughtful men” to
tease out the real meaning of a book.28 “The real opinion of an author is not
necessarily identical with that which he expresses in the largest number of
passages,” writes Strauss, and writers in Locke’s position are likely to offer highly
ironic statements, which intentionally commit “such blunders as would shame
an intelligent high school boy.”29 “The truly exact historian” will take the hint
and recognize that Locke’s actual views are the exact opposite of what these
“large number of passages” might suggest.30
Thus, the Bible-quoting, Hooker-referencing, commentary-writing Locke
who sought to distance his own teaching from the “justly decried”31 Hobbes was
simply acting out a charade. According to Strauss, Locke may have confessed
with his lips an allegiance to theologically based natural law, but his heart (a la
Hobbes) lay with a radically atheistic notion of natural right.32 As a champion of
replacing virtue with freedom as the chief end of society, Locke’s political theory
of acquisition is seen as the fruit of subversively amoral Machiavellian thought.33
In 1960, Cox continued this line of extreme skepticism, again claiming that
only proper principles of interpretation can draw out Locke’s hidden meaning—
often directly contradicting his explicit statements. Like Strauss, Cox offers the
needed hermeneutical schema, one that was apparently not available before these
men were able to discover it.34 Cox praises Locke for his rhetorical acumen and
skills of deception35 before citing cases where Locke says one thing but believes
the exact opposite.36
Strauss’s removal of Locke’s meaning from the actual content of his
writings left historians and political theorists with room to usher in their own
contemporary concerns. Just as Strauss offered an analysis of Locke as part of his
negative critique of modern liberalism, others are sympathetic in their portrayal
of Locke as a defender of modern liberal values.37 Yet the “hiddenness of Locke’s
true meaning” argument can lead to any number of interpretations. In 1962,
Macpherson used a hermeneutic of suspicion to provide a Marxist interpretation
of Locke. Like Strauss and Cox before him, Macpherson claims “the presence
of apparently clear inconsistency is to be treated as a clue” to unstated or
“inadequately stated” social assumptions.38 These social assumptions, shared with
Hobbes, included possessive individualism, focused on unlimited acquisition of
property within a larger class warfare. Locke sets out to provide the moral basis
for this approach. In so doing, Locke marshals forth theological arguments (and
calls upon authorities such as Richard Hooker and the Natural Law tradition)
as instruments of rhetoric—which ultimately, according to MacPherson, leave
Locke with a weaker (and less consistent) political theory than that of Hobbes.39
As an open-textured method, this mid-century reading of Locke paved the way
for positing Locke as simply a defender of a nontheological secular liberalism.
The extreme skepticism and eisegetical approach of Strauss and those who
followed in his train has been decisively answered on several fronts.40 But, as has
been shown, one can find the residual effects in the general approach to political
philosophy as well as the history of ideas. On the one hand, among those who
believe Locke’s philosophy may be studied within the large sweep of history (as
addressing perennial problems), it is altogether too easy to slide Locke into a
line of tradition that starts with Machiavelli, runs through Hobbes, and on to a
contemporary individualistic, freedom-based political theory concerned at base
with self-preservation and group consent. On the other hand, for those who
believe Locke must be narrowly examined within the strict confines of his own
historical context, the ease is to render Locke irrelevant to any contemporary
philosophical concerns.41 These seem to be extremes.
To some extent, all five of these moves displaced Locke’s theology in order to
present a “truer” reading of his political philosophy. But, this book will argue,
historically understood his theological premises are central to the political
project and cannot be excised without radically altering the whole.
The “religious (re)turn”—and why it is (mostly) right
There exists an alternative interpretive tradition that Sigmund describes as “the

religious turn” in Locke scholarship.42 Though this turn is often dated to within
the last half century, the evidence suggests that any recent turn to the religious
moorings in Locke’s moral and political theory is more precisely a “return” for
Locke scholarship. The proponents of this view for the last fifty years may be
placed within a long stream of tradition, which both assumed a religious basis
and, in later times, countered the prevailing winds agnostic or belligerent toward
any religious imperative in Locke’s argumentation.
A historical pedigree
For example, Israel notes that a religious reading of Locke’s moral and political
philosophy is present in Italy in the mid-eighteenth century. Tommaso Moniglia,
the Pisan professor of scripture and Church history, published a dissertation
“against the fatalisti” at Lucca in 1744. In his treatise, Moniglia saw Locke as
a defender of the faith, providing a philosophical foundation for Christian

perspectives on the political order.43 In a later work (published at Padua in 1750s),
Moniglia posited a Lockean perspective as the Christian “answer” to defeating
the influence of Spinoza.44 Eighteenth-century England included several notable
theologians who “indebted to Locke in various ways, did not see themselves as
rationalizers and secularizers, but as upholders of the Reformation, fulfillers of
its true meaning.”45
In terms of academic study concerning Locke’s ethical philosophy, a similar
story can be discovered. When Curtis penned An Outline of Locke’s Ethical
Philosophy in 1890, he offered what may have been the first monograph on the
subject ever published.46 Curtis rightly brought together the political, moral,
and religious strands of Locke’s philosophy in an attempt to proffer a coherent
“Lockean” line of thought. For Curtis, Locke considered politics a sub-branch
of moral philosophy. Though a Hobbesian materialism led the way for a line of
thought stretching through Hume, Voltaire, and Rousseau, Curtis argued that
Locke should be seen as opposing this approach. Carrying forward a tradition
in the vein of Nathaniel Culverwell, Locke’s true moral philosophy was inherited
by the Scottish school (of Reid) against a hedonistic materialism and in support
of theological correlation with the moral aspects of political philosophy.
Nearly thirty years later, Lamprecht took up the neglected subject once
again.47 Like Curtis before him, Lamprecht sought to combine disparate strands
of Locke’s thought in search of a coherent picture. For his part, Lamprecht
found both rationalistic and hedonistic elements in Locke’s moral philosophy.
But Lamprecht’s great contribution was in identifying Locke’s dominant aim as
providing a practical approach to moral and political philosophy, operating out
of (and bringing forward) religious, political, and social traditions before him.
Far from breaking with the theological tradition before him in order to bring
about a radically new secular ground for his political project, Locke “is rather
the ripe fulfillment of the past than the herald of the future.”48
The rise of the new perspective: A survey of the literature

The study of Locke’s natural law teaching experienced a watershed moment
in 1954, when Locke’s early Questions were published, remarkably, for the
first time.49 However, the initial analysis of these essays was not particularly
groundbreaking. According to von Leyden’s analysis, Locke appeared to offer a
theological grounding for the law of nature, but displayed logical inconsistency
and incoherence, and thus failed to offer a rational defense of natural law.
According to von Leyden, Locke’s later explorations in the Essay “made it

difficult for him to attempt a full exposition of natural law or even to believe in
it whole-heartedly.”50 Strauss, on the other hand, simply saw in these essays the
deceptive hand of a closet Hobbesian.51 Yet these interpretations were heavily
challenged by authors who saw in the Questions a clearer and more coherent
theological grounding for natural law that required reconsideration of Locke’s
theological assumptions within his wider political project.52
In 1956, Yolton published John Locke and the Way of Ideas. Though primarily
interested in the reception history of Locke’s theory of epistemology, Yolton
sets out a religious context for Locke’s project in which Locke’s arguments
were understood by his contemporaries as primarily intended to answer
burning questions arising from moral and theological concerns.53 The religious
implications of Locke’s Essay are neither surprising nor accidental, since a
comparison of minor philosophical writings of the period suggests that Locke
is engaging in theologically charged argumentation. In fact, Locke employs
principles anticipated by earlier philosophers but refuses to follow their lead in
pushing the arguments toward skepticism. According to Yolton, this is partly
due to Locke’s refusal to conceive of a separation in his writings between the
philosophical and the theological.
In 1960, Polin further advanced this theological reappraisal of Locke’s larger
project through a careful study of the relationship between Locke’s moral and
political theory.54 According to Polin, Locke’s systematic approach to philosophy
required him to seek internal consistency for all of his main views and that
Locke is generally successful in doing so.55 Locke does not compartmentalize his
ethics apart from his politics but rather grounds both in a view of natural law
that comprises a particular view of God, humanity, and the nature of morality.
This sense of a natural order mitigates against reading Locke as an extreme
individualist or hedonist. In this work, as well as in later writings concerning
Locke’s views on justice and freedom, Polin presents Locke’s works as a
unified piece of philosophy, based on theological premises, leading to political
conclusions.56
When Dunn published The Political Thought of John Locke in 1969, he offered
the most significant defense of the century for viewing Locke’s political project as
rooted in theology. By offering a highly contextual analysis of Locke’s work, and
completely removing any notion of Locke’s relationship to modern concerns,
Dunn seeks to provide “a more coherent and historically accurate account”
of Locke than had previously been offered; at the heart of this re-appraisal is
“the theological centrality of Locke’s religious preoccupations throughout his
work.”57 Dunn moves beyond a general appreciation for theological insight in

Locke’s philosophy; instead, he emphasizes “the intimate dependence of an
extremely high proportion of Locke’s arguments for their intelligibility, let alone
plausibility, on a series of theological commitments.”58 Dunn showed that Locke’s
political scheme cannot be conceived, understood, or consistently argued if
one removes the theological plank holding it together. Dunn’s book should
not be underestimated in terms of its significance in breaking the Straussian
stranglehold on Locke scholarship. As Woolhouse and Stanton suggest, “After
Dunn, the question for most Locke scholars was not whether Locke’s professions
about God and natural law were genuine, but how exactly they related to his
political thinking.”59
As significant as Dunn’s work is, it suffers three drawbacks. First, Dunn
mischaracterizes Locke’s theological commitments as emanating from a
particular Calvinist theology and a dependence on the Puritan doctrine of
“calling.”60 Yet Locke’s theology is broader and often at odds with Calvinist
approaches, and any semblance of “calling” in Locke’s religious views is part of
a larger theology of creation.61 Second, Dunn similarly fails to recognize how
Locke’s treatment of the law of nature offers a coherent claim within a larger
theology of creation.62 Third, Dunn concludes that Locke’s historical situation
called for metaphysical presuppositions and theological structures, which
are wholly absent from modern political thought, isolating Locke’s works as
philosophically irrelevant to contemporary concerns.63 Yet what value Locke’s
political theory may hold for Christian political philosophy and theology is
unaffected by Dunn’s conclusion.
In 1973, Sparkes published an article in which he rightly uses a theological
category in explicitly identifying Locke’s “doctrine of creation.”64 Noting the
similarities between Locke and Aquinas, Sparkes emphasizes the pervasive
teleological element in Locke’s doctrine of creation—one “not elaborated but
presupposed … not hidden, but there on the surface in fragmentary form.” Sparkes
claims that Locke’s law of nature “is the foundation of his political theory. It is not
a set of discrete principles, but a system based on the doctrine of the creative
activity of God.” Sparkes illustrates this point by noting the natural law basis for
Locke’s doctrines of property and political power. Sparkes criticizes Locke for
relegating the law of nature to a system of broad moral principles, rather than
incorporating the creative human aspect within his doctrine of creation.
Over the next fifteen years, a number of works proffered theses concerning
the essential relationship between Locke’s faith and his political theory.65 In
1981, for example, Eisenach concluded the following:
From his earliest concern with the relationship of morality to revealed religion
to his last writings on the reasonable Christianity, Locke saw political life as
requiring both reason and faith … Locke’s periodic resort to religion, then,
is less an act of piety (or failure of analytic nerve) than an integral part of his
philosophical and political enterprise.66
In 1983, Colman sought to provide a comprehensive investigation of Locke’s

moral philosophy, scouring the entire corpus of Locke’s published works.67 The
result is a coherent and defensible theological ethics.68 Following Yolton’s lead,
Colman rightly advanced the claim that Locke’s epistemological interests in the
Essay is in the service of moral theory rather than natural science. Against Aaron,
Colman found a consistent moral theory in Locke, though Colman judged this
theory to be of poor quality.69 He made a strong case that Locke’s hedonistic
tendencies did not force him to abandon his natural law theory in favor of a
utilitarian theory; these approaches are harmonious in Locke’s thought.70
Unfortunately, Colman still views Locke as a demolisher of Christian morality as
constructed in his own day, offering a utilitarian basis for his natural law theory,
depending on God for natural law obligation but not content.71
Locke’s commentary on Paul’s Epistles was published in 1987, adding more
fuel to the fire.72 One year later, Spellman increased awareness of Locke’s
theology by analyzing Locke’s view of sin and depravity. He rightly argued
that—contra Calvin—Locke did not accept the heredity of Adam’s sin, though
he did emphasize the problem of human weakness and inclination toward evil.73
The early 1990s welcomed a new generation of scholars who interpreted Locke’s
Essay as concerned primarily with moral and religious issues and who declared
that Locke’s epistemology, philosophy, and political theory must be understood
in the light of his religious perspective.74
Marshall’s masterful 1994 work represented a growing strand of research
emphasizing a religious return in Locke scholarship.75 Focusing primarily on
the Second Treatise, Marshall shows that Locke was not a dissenting ideologue
driven by self-interested secular political interests; rather Locke was driven to
toleration by his theological commitments. In contradistinction to the “possessive
individualist” portrayal, Locke operated out of central Christian commitments
of service, gratitude, and beneficence, and taught these virtues throughout his
writings. Marshall does see progression in Locke’s thought, though he does not
quite go as far as Ashcraft in suggesting the move is one of increasingly radical
political activism. Though Marshall portrays Locke as one whose theological
and political views change drastically through the course of his life (due to both
external circumstance and internal inquisitiveness), Locke remained a devoted
member of the Church of England and a serious student of theological matters

throughout his life. To Marshall, Locke’s theological independence meant he
could not adequately be described as a Calvinist, Deist, nor Latitudinarian
Anglican. In addition, Marshall provides perhaps the best defense that Locke
eventually moved into the ranks of Socinianism, though the debate on this issue
is more open than some may acknowledge.76 Unfortunately, Marshall argued
that Locke abandoned naturalist ethics in favor of revelation due to a failed
project, trying unsuccessfully to bridge the gap between a hedonistic theory of
happiness and a theory of moral obligation built on theological grounds such as
love of neighbor.
In the same year, Harris offered an important work in the same religious
stream of Locke scholarship.77 Wishing to establish continuity among Locke’s
disparate writings on a wide variety of subjects, Harris emphasized the interplay
and interdependence of Locke’s views. At the heart of this interplay, argues Harris,
“Theology is an indispensable element in the constitution of Locke’s thought.”78
With Marshall, Harris notes Locke’s lack of any theory of moral obligation,
which is needed to explain how the laws of nature can be considered morally
binding. Against Ashcraft (and in some ways, Marshall), Harris (following Dunn
somewhat) portrays Locke as a consistent moderating conservative who was free
from drastic changes in his political and theological views.
In 1997, Spellman provided a short but rich sketch of Locke in theological
terms, summarizing the approaches of Marshall, Harris, and others, and
emphasizing the large extent to which Locke’s Christian theological perspective
shaped his life and his work.79 Spellman rightly claims that the “one overriding
problem” that shaped Locke’s “entire intellectual life” and “united all of his
diverse interests … was the clarification and solidification of a traditional
Christian world-view during an age when the buttresses of the ancient faith were
under severe strain from a number of quarters.”80 Indeed, the main argument of
the book is that “the Christian story and it’s vigorous, albeit innovative and at
times controversial defense, constituted the core of Locke’s main work.”81 Locke
eschews traditional language but only to “reaffirm the ancient faith” rather than
destroy it.82
The turn of the century brought about a surge in the religious turn of Locke
scholarship. The reaction to Waldron’s 1999 Carlyle lectures (and its subsequent
2002 publication) is comparable in scope and influence to that associated
with Dunn’s 1969 publication. In God, Locke, and Equality, Waldron not only
solidifies the inseparable bond between Locke’s theology and his political theory,
he makes the bold claim that Locke’s theological basis for human equality is
coherent, consistent, and preferable to contemporary nontheological approaches

to the subject. Not only is it impossible to “bracket out” Locke’s theology from his
political conclusions, a logically consistent political theory, which seeks Locke’s
ends would fare well to retain Locke’s theological assumptions.83
A second author with a tremendous impact on Locke scholarship at the turn
of the century is Nuovo. Stretching from the mid-1990s to the end of the first
decade of the new millennium, Nuovo not only wrote key articles on Locke’s
religious moorings but introduced and edited editions of the RC and a collection
of Locke’s writings on religious topics.84 In 2011, Nuovo added new contributions
to some of his earlier writings to publish a compendium of his approaches to
Locke entitled Christianity, Antiquity, and Enlightenment.85 He followed this
work in 2017 with John Locke: The Philosopher as Christian Virtuoso.86 Nuovo’s
investigations yielded a rich analysis of how Locke’s Christology, view of
scripture, and indebtedness to ancient and scholastic sources charted a course
for Locke, the “Christian philosopher and philosophical Christian,”87 to offer a
religiously inspired political project.
In 2003, after surveying the role of Christology in Locke’s political philosophy,
Nuovo offered a provocative conclusion: “I do not think it is saying too much
to assert that he belongs as much to the Christian tradition as does Augustine
of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, or John Calvin,” citing him as “a principal founder
of modern liberal Christianity” rather than the founder of the sort of secular
liberalism often ascribed to him.88 After a study of Locke’s appropriation of St.
Paul, Nuovo took note that Locke weaves philosophy, theology, and politics
throughout his writings as pieces of a larger whole.89 He would go on to argue
that the seamless thread uniting the various “Locke’s” (the philosopher, political
theorist, and theologian) is, in fact, a belief in and dependence on Christian
revelation. “For Locke,” writes Nuovo, “Christian revelation encompassed the
whole of reality. It was as real an object of intellectual inquiry as civil society,
human understanding, the law of nature or personal identity.”90
The year 2004 marked the three hundredth anniversary of Locke’s death. As
a result, a number of conferences took place to commemorate the occasion.91
The increased interest in Locke provided opportunity for several contributors to
further advance the religious reading of Locke and inspire further research in that
direction. Since 2004, several monographs have rolled off the presses advancing
the religious turn. In 2004, Parker showed Locke’s unmistakable dependence
on scripture (and a particular theological reading of Genesis) in developing the
character of political arguments in the Two Treatises.92 The conclusion, Parker
contends, is that Locke sees himself as articulating a political theory that flows
out of a thoroughly Biblical paradigm. In her 2006 dissertation, Tetlow conducted

a textual analysis of the RC and the Paraphrase, concluding that the only accurate
reading of Locke is one that acknowledges his theological presuppositions form
the basis of his political thought.93 Tetlow rightly locates Locke’s major influence
in the Oxford Latitudinarians and the Cambridge Platonists and draws (perhaps
clearer than anybody) the close relationship between their theological positions
and Locke’s theological and philosophical assumptions.
The progression in this direction has continued in recent years. Timothy
Stanton has also contributed to the religious interpretation of Locke through
further defending the view that Locke placed theological assumptions at the
center of his political theory and advocated theological argumentation as a
means of persuading the populace toward his most cherished desired ends.94
One of those cherished desired ends—namely, religious toleration—received
special attention in 2006 by Marshall and in 2014 by Loconte.95 Marshall roots
religious toleration in an “early enlightenment culture” strongly connected to
the Dutch Republic. Tracing Locke’s relations in this regard, Marshall notes
the religious and theological connections that gave rise to Locke’s arguments
for toleration. But Loconte takes a step forward, rooting Locke’s motivation
and argumentation for religious toleration in the Erasmian Christian humanist
tradition. Rather than isolating Locke’s rationale to instrumentally pragmatic
grounds, Loconte also shows how Locke’s relationship with English and Dutch
reformers helped him form an attitude toward religious toleration that was
decidedly Christian and theologically anchored. What Marshall and Loconte are
able to show regarding one area of Locke’s political schema this book will show
with regard to his larger political agenda.
The “religious” reading of Locke has had enough impact to lead some
researchers to move to a second phase of research, applying the results of
the religion turn to contemporary concerns in political theory. In 2005 and
2011, respectively, Forster and Perry sought to bring this reading of Locke
into the larger realm of political theory, suggesting ways in which Locke’s
religiously committed approach to issues of liberty, equality, and toleration
might play out in the contemporary public sphere.96 Though Forster is more
sympathetic than Perry that the contemporary situation calls for Locke’s
particular solutions, both authors recognize the deeply religious Locke sets
out a project that did not seek to divorce theology from philosophy and
politics but rather to inform them. These studies are important in the light
of the larger debate concerning Christianity’s relationship to Western liberal
democratic ideals.
Solidifying a theological portrait: Problems,

proposals, and parameters
This book will argue that the religious turn is necessary but needs further
to be explored. Locke may have sought to curb political control away from
unscrupulous religious leaders, and he may have championed the separation of
church and state (for mutual benefit). But it was not his intention to separate a
distinctly Christian worldview (which includes ideas about God, humanity, law,
morality, and creation) from the ends of his political program. He is offering
a pragmatic Christian political philosophy without using distinctly Christian
language.
In the chapters to follow, this book will argue that much of Locke’s mature
political thought is driven by his Christian theological convictions in deeper
and richer ways than often assumed even by exponents of the “religious turn.”
We will begin by placing Locke within the religious contexts of his own day.
The excellent groundwork for placing Locke within the circle of Latitudinarian
theology laid down early but clarified by Marshall and supremely by Tetlow can
be sharpened. For example, precisely how did this background provide not only a
general influence but an impetus to provide a political philosophy working out of
theological premises shared or advocated by Whichcote, Cudworth, and the like?
The answer of this book is that many of Locke’s political aims (and theological
argumentation to support those aims) are already present in his theological
context. This backdrop shows how Locke was able to establish the crucial link
between his political ends and his Christian theological commitments.
While several scholars have mentioned different portions of Locke’s
theological angle, it remains necessary to identify the platform of Locke’s moral
and political theory as resting on three theological planks (God, the law of nature,
and revelation). Each of these planks, in turn, is in need of further elaboration.
Though some have assumed any deity can do justice to Locke’s religious claims,
only a “true” idea of God (as Locke conceives it)—whose character includes
goodness, mercy, and justice, who affirms the freedom of human beings made
to participate in creation, and whose past and future actions are described in the
Bible—can serve as the moral basis for a truly just society. While Colman rightly
identifies a coherent moral theory in Locke’s philosophy, a clearer theological
answer is needed to explain how elements of hedonistic psychology relate to
moral accountability within a wider natural law theory97 as well as how to establish
the basis of human equality. For Locke, the answer lies in a larger theology of
creation (connected to covenant theology) that grounds any law of nature and
provides ultimate ends beyond temporal happiness and higher than any human
pleasure or societal unity.
Finally, while much attention has been given to Locke’s use of and appreciation
for scripture, there still is work to be done on Locke’s doctrine of scripture and
how that relates to his wider interest. Locke’s Latitudinarian framework explains
his high view of scripture that lends itself to a kind of biblical conservatism:
one that seeks general acceptance of a minimal creed discovered through the
“plain” reading of an agreed-upon standard—Christian scripture. In this way,
Locke affirms the necessity of revelation at the same time as decrying religious
enthusiasm. Locke’s reading of scripture allows him to place judgment in the
hands of God at the last day—a move that is essential to the logic of his argument
for the executive powers of government and allows Locke to advocate a generous
liberality and discretion among political and religious leaders whose judgments
are, at most, penultimate. Locke’s high regard for scripture, and claims concerning
the necessity of divine revelation, provide the bridge for understanding how
(and why) particular aspects of the call of the gospel find their way into Locke’s
political theory, and establish the way in which, for Locke, both reason and faith
serve to support his political aims.
In truth, only Locke’s three planks—laid down in Locke’s terms—can carry
the weight of Locke’s political agenda. Locke’s political theory is not a “secular”
approach to governance that Christians can accept; it is a coherent Latitudinarian
political philosophy intended to support Christian aims (across denominations),
which could also be accepted by those outside the Christian faith.
2
Life in the Areopagus: Secular Echoes,

Religious Refrain
Secular sounds: Tate’s challenge to the religious turn
According to Jeremy Waldron, who is perhaps the leading proponent for the
religious turn in Locke scholarship, Locke believed it was “not reasonable … to
think that you can proceed safely in public discourse or in public life, without
accepting the theism which … is an indispensable basis for equality and social
stability.”1 For Waldron, “proceeding safely in public discourse” goes beyond
philosophical recognition of the theological roots of egalitarianism but extends
to the very language used. Given the theological underpinnings in Locke’s
political philosophy, writes Waldron,
it may be impossible to articulate certain important egalitarian commitments

without appealing to what one takes to be their religious grounds … Locke is
not just saying that religious argumentation about equality should be permitted
in public life; he is arguing that it is indispensable.2
This view, however, is not without detractors. John William Tate is a modern
Locke scholar who represents an interpretive stream diametrically opposed to
public theological appeals or overtly religious argumentation in the political
sphere. According to Tate, “Locke understood … that … religion and theology
constituted no basis for public deliberation or civil and political agreement,
either concerning the role and purpose of government, individual consent
to that role, or the obligations arising from these.”3 “Far from ‘religious
argumentation’ being ‘indispensable,’” writes Tate, “Locke explicitly tries to
exclude it from the justification of civil and political arrangements and the
exercise of political authority associated with these arrangements.”4 For Tate, the
foundation of Locke’s political philosophy is found in shared material interests,
far removed from divisive theological commitments.5 Neither natural law,
religion, nor revealed theology can “provide a basis of commensurability” to

establish consent-based political justification.6 Tate summarizes the “secular”
interpretation of Locke in the following manner:
Locke in no way sought to make the normative conclusions of his political

philosophy dependent on their theological foundations. Indeed, he sought quite
the reverse, given the religious divisions of his time, as he wanted to advance
his political philosophy on grounds that a diverse audience (even “pagans”)
could affirm irrespective of their theological point of view. In other words, not
only can we divide Locke from God, but when it came to the justification of his
political philosophy, this was in fact Locke’s own intention.7
Perusing Locke’s political writings, one is able to find ample evidence of language
lending itself toward this “secular” perspective. For example, in the LCT Locke
is emphatic that church and state are “most different” and occupy two different
spheres, “absolutely separate and distinct,” with “just bounds” set between them.8
The state, charged with care for temporal worldly concerns, is the “Keeper of the
publick Peace”; the church, interested in the eternal things of heaven, is “the
Oversee[r] of Souls.”9 According to Locke, there is only an “unhappy Agreement
that we see between the Church and State” when the boundaries are crossed.10
Just as Locke describes the distinct roles for “church” and “state,” he also
speaks of what is not in each jurisdiction. “Churches have [not] any Jurisdiction
in Worldly matters.”11 Ecclesiastical authority “ought to be confined within the
Bounds of the Church, nor can it in any manner be extended to Civil Affairs.”12
Likewise, the state is not concerned with eternal matters: “All the Power of Civil
Government relates only to Mens Civil Interests, is confined to the care of the
things of this World, and hath nothing to do with the World to come.”13 Since the
magistrate has jurisdiction only over “civil interests,” which concern “temporal”
things, “it neither can nor ought in any manner to be extended to the Salvation
of Souls.”14 Locke’s strong and passionate feelings on the matter are expressed
most clearly near the beginning of the work:
The Church it self is a thing absolutely separate and distinct from the
Commonwealth. The Boundaries on both sides are fixed and immovable. He
jumbles Heaven and Earth together, the things most remote and opposite, who
mixes these two Societies; which are in their Original, End, Business, and in
every thing, perfectly distinct, and infinitely different from each other.15
According to Locke, churches are notoriously divisive and, in prescribing

differing interpretations of divine laws upon their adherents, tend toward
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Finding Locke’s God: The Theological

Basis of John Locke’s Political Thought

Intellectual, Humanist and Religious Commitment, by Peter Forrest

Kant’s Transition Project and Late Philosophy, by Oliver Thorndike

Religious Language, Meaning and Use,

Spinoza in Twenty-First-Century American and French Philosophy,

BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo

First published in Great Britain 2020

Copyright © Nathan Guy, 2020

For legal purposes the Acknowledgments on p. viii constitute an extension of this

Cover design by Maria Rajka

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted

ISBN: HB: 978-1-3501-0351-1

Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.

Part 1 In Defense of the Religious Turn

1 The New Perspective on Locke: The Religious (Re)Turn in Locke

Part 2 From a “Religious” to a “Theological” Turn: Tracing

4 The God of Christianity and the Foundations of Morality 77

To form a young gentleman as he should be … [involves] an art not to be

I am extremely grateful for the “good company” of family, educators, colleagues,

Faulker University’s Jones School of Law, Heritage Christian University, and

1st T John Locke, “First Treatise of Government” [1690], in John Locke,

2nd T John Locke, “Second Treatise of Government” [1690], in John Locke,

COR John Locke, The Correspondence of John Locke, ed. E. S. de Beer

E John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. Peter H.

L Letter (to or from John Locke), as found in COR. Citations are by

Laws Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Preface, Book I,

RC John Locke, The Reasonableness of Christianity as Delivered in the

ST Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, trans. Fr. Laurence Shapcote, ed.

In his 1671 draft of some initial thoughts concerning human understanding,

because we cannot come to a certain knowledg of these rules of our actions,

Political philosophy as a theological project

theological element being essential to understanding what Locke wishes to do

The category of “Christian political philosopher”

Locke’s interdisciplinary interests and instincts attracted me to his works in the

What about calling Locke a “political theologian”? This designation may be

it is not a question of adapting to alien requirements or subscribing to external

and “formulating a political theology in which toleration is a sign of one’s loyalty

My hypothesis would be that Locke scholarship’s fruitless detour into secularism

Outline of the book

In Chapter 1 I introduce the “religious turn” in Locke scholarship as, in truth,

promoter of Enlightenment rationality—incompatible with the Christian natural

ecclesiology, and the philosophical theology provided by Cambridge Platonists.

mode of Christian thought. Second, it offers both a philosophical contribution

In this book, I will concentrate on Locke’s well-known political works (such

In Defense of the Religious Turn

The New Perspective on Locke: The Religious

A tale of two portraits

In political theory classrooms around the globe, it is quite common to be

However, a new perspective on Locke has emerged—especially over the last

On the secular trail—and why it is (mostly) wrong

The first four moves: Heresy hunting, neglect, misrepresentation,

Enlightenment thinkers, read in the light of new concerns. The industrial

The fifth move: Radical skepticism

The “religious (re)turn”—and why it is (mostly) right

There exists an alternative interpretive tradition that Sigmund describes as “the

a defender of the faith, providing a philosophical foundation for Christian

The rise of the new perspective: A survey of the literature

According to von Leyden, Locke’s later explorations in the Essay “made it

4 The God of Christianity and the Foundations of Morality 77