A Letter Concerning Toleration

A Letter Concerning Toleration (Epistola de Tolerantia) by John Locke was written in 1685–1686 when Locke was living in exile in the Netherlands, a place known for allowing different kinds of religious beliefs. He wrote it to an anonymous "Honored Sir", who was later found out to be a Dutchman named Philipp van Limborch. The Letter was first written in Latin and was later published in English in 1689 by William Popple, without Locke knowing about it.

Locke wrote this work during a time when there were many problems and fights about religion in England. In his letter, he talked about why it is important to keep the church and the government separate. He believed that allowing people to have different religious beliefs, or religious toleration, could help bring peace and stop fights about religion.

Background

After the discovery of the Rye House Plot and Charles II's harsh treatment of the Whigs, John Locke left England for Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic in September 1683. Locke had always been interested in the idea of religious toleration. While he was in Holland, this topic was widely discussed, especially after Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes in October 1685. This action took away rights from French Protestants and was meant to end the Thirty Years War.

In the Dutch Republic, Locke met Philipp van Limborch, a Professor of Divinity. A conversation with Limborch encouraged Locke to stop working on his book An Essay Concerning Human Understanding for a while. Instead, he wrote his ideas about religious toleration during the winter of 1685–86.

Argument of the Letter

John Locke, a thinker who believed in learning from experience, wrote about allowing different Christian groups to exist peacefully together. He thought that only churches that respect others should be allowed. Locke worried that if a church required its members to follow another leader, it could cause problems for the government.

Locke also talked about how people with different beliefs should be treated fairly. He said that non-Christian groups, like Indigenous peoples and Jews living in England, should not be treated badly just because of their religion. He believed that people should not be forced to change their religious practices. However, he did not think that those who did not believe in any god should be allowed the same freedoms, because he thought this could weaken society.

Reception

Some religious leaders quickly responded to the letter. One writer, Thomas Long, thought it was a secret plan by some people to cause trouble for the church and government. Another writer, Jonas Proast, believed that the government should have the right to encourage people to follow the main church. He also did not think Jews should be allowed religious freedom.

Later, John Locke wrote a second letter in 1690 to answer Proast. In this letter, Locke talked about how forcing people to follow a religion does not work. He said that allowing different beliefs could help people choose to follow Christianity by talking to them, not by forcing them.