Abstract

The view prevails today that John Locke's political teaching is unintelligible unless certain Biblical or semi-Biblical premises are assumed. John Locke's Critique of the Bible challenges this view by demonstrating that the first of Locke's Two Treatises of Government contains a radical critique of the Bible. ;Chapter one demonstrates that, in Locke's view, criticism of established political or religious opinion can not be presented openly if it is to be effective. The possibility that Locke himself veiled or obscured part of the argument of the First Treatise becomes strong when it is seen that in attacking Sir Robert Filmer, Locke intends also to attack the Bible. ;Chapters two through seven detail Locke's critique of the Biblical teaching on creation, donation, the Fall, marriage, fatherly authority, and the history of mankind or God's Providence. In each case, it is argued, Locke attempts to show by exegesis of the crucial Scriptures that it is impossible to answer the decisive questions of politics on the basis of Scripture, and that it is dangerous to try. ;The core of the dissertation is a detailed account of Locke's critique both of the patriarchal Biblical family, and of donation, or the conception of the world as a gift of God to mankind. Locke is shown to argue that, correctly understood, such phenomena as fatherly authority, the inequality of the sexes, and man's need for and use of the beasts do not reflect or point to the existence of divine order in the world. Nor, in his view, do they help us to answer such political questions as concern forms of government, the right to rule, and the obligation to obey. ;By showing that Locke defines his views on reason, the natural freedom of mankind, government by consent, property, and the family in opposition to the Bible, the dissertation establishes that a critique of the Bible is a necessary and integral part of Locke's political philosophy