The Biblical Politics of John Locke

Leonard Adams is a professor of French Studies at the University of
Guelph.

This book is a terse presentation of John Locke’s salient arguments
for justifying his choice of the Bible as the source of political theory
applied to a Christian society.

In an age when philosophers debated the choice between reason and faith
as a foundational principle for political action, Locke argued that
Genesis offered the safest framework for the creation of a society
compliant with divine commands. Beginning with his insistence that
morality springs from belief in God, he went on to defend his personal
interpretation of the Scriptures as well as their implication for viable
human interaction. Locke’s principal opponent was  Robert Filmer, the
17th century’s foremost English advocate of patriarchalism.

Parker carefully explores the kernel of Locke’s thought, examining
his arguments on the limits to reason and revelation and his
contribution to the historical critical approach to biblical exegesis,
not to mention his refusal to accept the traditional explanation of the
problem of sinfulness and the role of natural law and the legacy of the
Fall. Parker skilfully traces Locke’s career, emphasizing the aspects
of his writing that made his thought the link between 17th-century
and Enlightenment political theories. His fascinating analysis lends
itself to close reading by scholars with relatively little knowledge of
a philosopher whose influence on the thinkers of his time is often
slighted, particularly concerning the biblical  basis of political
theory, sexual equality, and rejection of absolutism on the grounds that
human beings are born free and rational. The author cogently reminds the
reader of the centrality of the Bible in the political thought of
Locke’s contemporaries. Omitting extraneous material, this work places
Locke’s crusade for freedom at the centre of the discourse. The
analysis of the role that the Bible played in Locke’s politics is
clear, focused, well-constructed, and a delight to read.