Of the Nature and Qualification of Religion in Reference to Civil Society

Introduction

INTRODUCTION John Locke's Letter Concerning Toleration, originally published in Latin in 1689, is widely known as a founding text in the history oftoleration. It is usually claimed that Locke was among the first who defended a "modern" concept of toleration. This interpretation rests on the basic distinction between a "traditional" and a "modern" doctrine of toleration . The former sees toleration as a grant or privilege bestowed on individuals or groups by the ruler. Toleration is conceived not as a good in itself but rather as a temporary means to overcome religious dissent. The ultimate goal remains the reunification ofdifferent religions or religious denominations. The "modern" doctrine oftoleration is marked by a shift to religious liberty or freedom ofconscience. In this view, liberty is an entitlement that does not depend on an agency that grants privileges. The liberty-based approach to toleration amounts to a principled defense of religious dissent and implies the permanence and ineradicability of religious diversity.] Although Locke's Letter marks an important step in the history of toleration, it is by no means unique.2 It is part of a considerable body L For the distinction between a "traditional" and a "modern" doctrine of toleration, see Mario Turchetti, "Religious Concord and Political Tolerance in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century France," Sixteenth Century Journal 21 (1991): 15-25. The distinction was taken up in the editorial introduction to Diffirence and Dissent: Theories of Tolerance in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, ed. Cary J. Nederman and John C. Laursen (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996), 5-12. 2. For Locke's place in the history of toleration, see Diffirence and Dissent and Beyond the Persecuting Society: Religious Toleration beftre the Enlightenment, ed. John C. Laursen and Cary J. Nederman (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), l-ro. ix x INTRODUCTION of literature on toleration that followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. By this measure the French king, Louis XIV, renounced the laws that granted toleration to the Huguenots-that is, the Calvinists -in France. It has to be considered as the last great effort of one of the European powers to bring about religious unity by means of force. It is thus no surprise that this act was met by an outcry of protestations in the European "Republic of Letters." The lead was taken by Protestant countries such as The Netherlands, England, Brandenburg-Prussia, and Switzerland, where the Huguenot exiles had taken up residence.3 II Samuel Pufendorf's De habitu religionis christianae ad vitam civilem (Of the Nature of Religion in Relation to Civil Life, translated as Of the Nature and Qualification ofReligion in Reftrence to Civil Society) of 1687 is one of the remarkable pieces in this literature. It is exceptional, because the doctrine of toleration is developed within the framework of modern natural law, a doctrine for which Pufendorf is well-known as one of the founding fathers. His main works are De jure naturae et gentium (The Law ofNature and Nations, 1672) and its abridgment, De officio hominis et civisjuxta legem naturalem (On the Duty ofMan and Citizen According to Natural Law, translated as The Whole Duty ofMan According to the Law ofNature, 1673). The first English translation of De habitu, which is reproduced in this volume, was published in 1698. By then Pufendorf was already renowned in England and elsewhere in Europe. The last decade ofthe seventeenth century witnessed extended discussion ofhis work in learned journals as well as the first translations of his writings. The first English translation of De officio dates from 1691, the second from 1698. The French, English, German, and many 3. On the toleration debate in the French journals published in The Netherlands, see Jan Schillings, Het tolerantiedebat in defranstalige geleerdentijdschriften uitgegeven in de Republiek der Verenigde Provincien in de periode I684-I753, with a summary in English (Amsterdam: APA-Holland Universiteits Pers, 1997). INTRODUCTION xi other translations of De jure and De officio that followed in the early eighteenth century testifY to the lasting interest in Pufendorf's writings on natural law. In fact, they were to playa major role in the shaping of German, Scottish, and French moral and political philosophy up to the American and French Revolutions. As Jodocus Crull mentions on the tide page of his translation, Pufendorf 's Ofthe Nature and Qualification ofReligion may be read as an "appendix" to The Whole Duty ofMan. In fact, it can be...