The appropriation of Locke

'On the Enlightenment thinker’s religious convictions.'

Joseph Loconte at The New Criterion.

"Yet the image of Locke as a postmodern hedonist has not held up well under scholarly scrutiny. Since the publication of [John] Dunn’s Political Thought of John Locke, we have had decades of Locke scholarship exploring not only his political philosophy, but also his lifelong religious beliefs and concerns. Though differences of opinion remain over the contours of Locke’s religious faith, there exists broad agreement about Dunn’s essential thesis: in Locke’s writings we encounter not only a severe critic of authoritarian religion, but also a fierce defender of Christianity’s moral precepts who considered himself an orthodox believer."

See Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration, Concerning Civil Government, Second Essay, and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volumen 35, (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 33.