The Biblical Politics of John Locke

INTRODUCTION

Notes to introduction begin on page 155 1 Introduction
y study of the biblical politics of John Locke is both theological and political in its inspiration, as it considers Locke’s interest in scripture and how that interest unfolds in the development of his political philosophy. I will argue that the Bible was an important component in his political outlook and,far from providing Locke with only the semblance of orthodoxy,it provides him with the pre-eminent account of human nature. Locke’s understanding of the relationship between the account of humanity in the book of Genesis and his view of what is the best political ordering for human beings—heretofore a subject of relative neglect—will be the subject of this book. Locke’s interest in the Bible and biblical theology is evident throughout his life. Locke was intimately familiar with the Bible, biblical languages, and biblical scholarship, and spent an enormous amount of intellectual energy keeping abreast of the latest theological developments in England and on the Continent. His published work contains numerous scriptural references, and his unpublished work, including his heavily annotated Bibles, reveals the extent to which he was interested in biblical themes. In Locke’s private library of 3,641 titles, there are more books on theological subjects than any other, accounting for almost a quarter of the total number of his holdings.1 Given the sheer quantity of biblical references throughout Locke’s writings, it is rather surprising that, in the secondary literature devoted to him, more attention has not been paid to his use of the Bible. Indeed, though a number of scholars have stressed the religious influences on Locke, particularly since the publication of John Dunn’s The Political Thought of John Locke in 1969, few have devoted themselves entirely to Locke’s use of scripture in the development of his political thought.2 And though many have noticed how frequently biblical references surface in Locke’s writings, few have considered their overall importance to his philosophical outlook as a whole.3 I will argue here that, by stressing or exposing the biblical undercurrents of Locke’s political thought, it is possible to determine whether his political teaching is integrally dependent upon or independent of his biblical exegesis. M 2 Introduction If, moreover, Locke links his political theory and his views on human nature on key biblical texts (notably Genesis 1–4), it becomes a matter of some importance, for those interested in the study of liberalism in its formative period, to determine whether there is an inherent connection between Locke’s political ideas and the Bible. It is thus a matter of academic misfortune that the question of the ideological relationship between political foundations and religious texts, or the “theologico-political question,” has been neglected in the scholarship of recent years.4 It seems self-evident, in fact, to most modern biblical and political students, that the first chapters of Genesis appear anything but political—or are perhaps so politically ambiguous as to empty the word political of its meaning.5 In contemporary terms, finding political inspiration in the Bible seems to be an unrealistic or even pointless task. Most people are justifiably suspicious of those who extract from the Bible anything other than a purely private, moral message; similarly, they consider the attempt to determine public policy—let alone liberalism—from the Bible to be anachronistic at best. There are others who—although they may use ancient paganism to validate their belief in the goddess cult, Druid worship, or new-age religion—find the Bible, with its patriarchal inflexibility and militaristic machinations, irrelevant for modern spirituality. Finally, there are those who continue to draw guidelines for their lives from the Bible, but who find liberalism, with its secular individualistic interests, incompatible with the Bible’s moral message. But if an investigation of liberalism in its formative period does not require a simple renunciation of the Bible— and, indeed, the fact that it is in part based on biblical precepts—it would be tragic not to make use of the Bible to shed light on the political institutions and practices that inform the Western world (Ajzenstat 1992). That contemporary scholars all too often neglect the Bible as a source of political information about Locke—or, for that matter, about his contemporaries —indicates that a crucial component of our political debate is missing. Though it now might seem absurd, and possibly quite dangerous, to locate contemporary political discussion...