John Locke
The philosopher whose Letter Concerning Toleration, published in 1689, argues that the magistrate’s power extends only to civil interests and that churches are voluntary societies.
In the Letter Concerning Toleration Locke calls mutual toleration among Christians “the chief characteristic mark of the true Church” (Locke, Letter Concerning Toleration opening paragraph) and argues that the care of souls is not committed to the civil magistrate, whose power consists only in outward force (Locke, Letter Concerning Toleration the definition of the commonwealth and the first two arguments). He denies toleration to those who deny the being of God and to a church whose members owe service to another prince (Locke, Letter Concerning Toleration the paragraphs beginning “Again: That Church” and “Lastly”). See the Toleration Act and Locke’s Letter.
In the timeline
- 24 May 1689, firm dateThe Toleration Act and Locke’s Letter
In May 1689 the English Parliament exempts Protestant dissenters who take the oaths from the penalties of the laws on worship, but not Catholics or those who deny the Trinity. In the same year John Locke’s Letter argues that the care of souls is no business of the magistrate.