A Letter Concerning Toleration
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Who wrote 'A Letter Concerning Toleration'?
Authored by the English philosopher John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration advocates for religious tolerance. Locke wrote it in Latin while exiled in Holland in 1685. It was initially published anonymously in both Latin and English in 1689, after Locke's return to England.
Locke's essay greatly influenced the separation of church and state. He argued that the government should focus on civil interests (preservation of peace and earthly well-being), while religion should focus on the salvation of souls. According to Locke, the government should not discriminate based on religious belief or make laws specific to religious institutions.
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What is 'A Letter Concerning Toleration' about?
In his A Letter Concerning Toleration, English philosopher John Locke advocated for greater religious toleration during a time of religious and sectarian conflict in Europe. Locke argued that the government should not interfere with religious liberty, and religious leaders should not use the state to resolve spiritual disagreements.
According to Locke, the government's concern is "civil interests," such as preserving peace, order, and the people's well-being. Locke excludes Roman Catholics and atheists from his defense of religious toleration because he believes their beliefs challenge civil authority and the existence of civil society.
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Why did John Locke write this essay?
John Locke wrote A Letter Concerning Toleration advocating for greater religious toleration during a time of religious and sectarian strife in Europe. He distinguished between the realms of religion and civil affairs, arguing that government should not interfere with religious liberty, and religious leaders should not use state power to resolve spiritual disagreements. Locke believed that freedom of conscience is central to religious pursuit, and toleration is a key characteristic of the true Church. His work supported human freedom, as also seen in his Two Treatises of Government and Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money.
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What does Locke say about religious freedom in his essay?
In his Letter Concerning Toleration, John Locke advocates for religious toleration, arguing for the separation of church and state. He suggests that the government's concern should be civil interests, such as preserving peace and order, rather than religious affairs.
Locke's defense of religious toleration had exceptions for Roman Catholics and atheists, as he believed their beliefs challenged civil authority. Despite these exceptions, Locke's work supports individual freedom of conscience, which influenced the development of liberalism and the concept of separation of church and state.
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How did Locke think government and religion should relate to each other?
In A Letter Concerning Toleration, John Locke distinguishes between government and religion, assigning each distinct roles. He believed government should focus on civil interests like peace, order, and earthly well-being, without interfering in religious matters. Locke argued that the state should not discriminate based on religious belief or create laws specific to religious institutions.
Conversely, Locke stated that religious leaders and believers should not use the state to resolve spiritual disagreements. Locke advocated for religious tolerance, as he believed that true faith comes from individual conscience and persuasion, not coercion. However, Locke's defense of religious toleration had exceptions, excluding Roman Catholics and atheists because he thought their beliefs challenged civil authority.
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How did 'A Letter Concerning Toleration' influence later ideas about freedom and rights?
"A Letter Concerning Toleration" by John Locke advocated religious tolerance, influencing the concept of separation of church and state in modern constitutions. Locke argued that government should focus on civil interests like peace and order, not religious affairs. Religious intolerance, according to Locke, arises from misunderstanding the distinct roles of church and state; the government shouldn't interfere with religious freedom, and religious bodies shouldn't use state power to resolve spiritual matters.
Locke's advocacy for toleration wasn't absolute, as it excluded Roman Catholics and atheists, if their beliefs challenged civil authority. His letter aligns with his broader theme of human freedom, impacting political and economic thought, as seen in his other works.
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A Letter Concerning Toleration, in the history of political philosophy, an important essay by the English philosopher John Locke, originally written in Latin (Epistola de Tolerantia) in 1685 while Locke was in exile in Holland and first published anonymously in both Latin and English (in a translation by William Popple) upon Locke’s return to England in 1689. A Letter Concerning Toleration greatly influenced the development of the modern concept of the separation of church and state, which is entrenched in a number of modern constitutions.
A Letter Concerning Toleration advocated for greater religious toleration during a period marked by dramatic and often violent religious and sectarian strife in Europe. In Locke’s England, Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters were effectively barred from holding political office by the Test Act of 1673 (which conditioned public office on the reception of Holy Communion according to the rites of the Church of England), despite efforts by supporters of James II—the king of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1685 to 1688—to have it repealed. Across the English Channel, in France, the rights of the Huguenots (French Protestants) were severely curtailed by King Louis XIV’s revocation in 1685 of the Edict of Nantes, which had previously recognized Protestants’ civil rights and freedom of conscience.
According to Locke, religious intolerance and persecution result from a lack of understanding of the distinction between the realms of religion (the proper domain of the church) and civil affairs (the proper domain of government). The government should not encroach upon religious liberty, just as religious leaders and believers should not seek to use the power of the state to resolve spiritual disagreements.
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Locke argued in A Letter Concerning Toleration that the proper realm of government concerns “civil interests,” or the preservation of peace, order, and the people’s earthly well-being (in his own words, “life, liberty, health, and indolency of body; and the possession of outward things, such as money, lands, houses, furniture, and the like”). The citizenry, in a hypothetical compact, has entrusted the state (and the legitimate government in power) with this responsibility, along with the right to use force and coercion when necessary. For Locke, the government’s purview extends only to these civil interests and not to religious affairs. Therefore, the government should not discriminate based on religious belief or make laws specific to religious institutions. A Letter Concerning Toleration contrasts the civil interests that are the proper concern of government with the care of immortal souls and their guidance to salvation, which are the proper concern of religion. It is important to note that Locke did not oppose the right of members of government to express religious opinions: they can do so as individuals seeking to influence others through uncoerced persuasion, he argued, but they can not do so through laws or state power.
Locke’s defense of toleration is not grounded in ethical relativism. He recognized only “one truth, one way to heaven” but argued that this path is to be pursued by following one’s conscience, not through state power and coercion. A church, for Locke, is a free and voluntary association seeking salvation through collective worship. Although a person could be forced to make religious statements or perform religious rituals, such coercion would not advance—but would rather impede—the religious pursuit of salvation, since dishonest worship, unmoved by the “inward and full persuasion of the mind,” would be unacceptable to God. Because freedom of conscience is at the core of every genuine religious pursuit for Locke, toleration represents not only a dividing line between the realms of religion and government but also the chief distinguishing characteristic of the “true Church.” The distinction between the legitimate realms of government and religion is founded not only on their different purposes (civil interests versus salvation) but also on the different types of power they can rely upon (coercion versus persuasion of the mind).
Locke’s defense of religious toleration is not unconditional or without exception. A Letter Concerning Toleration specifically excludes two groups: Roman Catholics and atheists. Such exclusion or intolerance is justified, according to Locke, only when religious beliefs, or the absence thereof, pose a challenge to civil authority or are antithetical to the very existence of civil society. In the case of Roman Catholics, their submission to the authority of the pope (a spiritual but also political authority) was regarded by Locke as a direct challenge to the authority of secular rulers. As for atheists, Locke was convinced that their disbelief in God means that they can not be trusted to uphold any promise or covenant.
As a defense of religious freedom, A Letter Concerning Toleration is aligned with Locke’s other major works, which address the theme of human freedom as it pertains to other areas of life—namely, political freedom in the Two Treatises of Government (1689) and economic freedom in Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money (1692).
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