Locke's Accidental Church: The Letter Concerning Toleration and the Church's Witness to the State

Abstract

Despite the obviously theological nature of much of John Locke's writings, until recently that aspect of his work was largely ignored. His Christianity has often been seen as a flaw that the modern reader does well to look past, his theological commitments being inappropriate for today's pluralistic society. Such a reading is not unfounded. After all, it was Locke's political writings that, in many ways, helped separate theology from other disciplines. Perhaps it is no wonder that the inheritors of his liberalism feel free to overlook his Christianity. Unfortunately, reading Locke without full attention to the theological nature of his work is problematic. Not only does such a reading lead to potential misunderstandings of the work itself, it can obscure ways that his work continues to affect contemporary theology and church life. This essay seeks to fill this void, at least partially, by studying the theology of Locke's argument for religious toleration. Locke's mature view on the subject, his Letter Concerning Toleration, was written at the end of a century or more of religious conflict. The Thirty Years' War ended in 1648, but religious persecution continued in many places, including England and France. The persecution of Protestants by the French church, which was renewed in 1685 with the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, was severe.1