Historical background

• 16th century: English reformation

• 1534: King Henry VIII declares himself head of 
John Locke (1632‐1704) the Church of England
• Continuing tension between protestants and 
Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) catholics
• Locke defends freedom of religion

Freedom of religion Tolerance

• ‘… date een yder particulier in sijn Religie vrij sal moegen blijven, ende dat men nyemant ter cause
van de Religie sal moegen achterhalen ofte ondersoucken … ’ (Unie van Utrecht, 1579) 1. Implies a particular condition of the soul
• And, especially, seeing that he did not only seek to tyrannize over their persons and estates, but ‐ Christian charity, humility, good will
also over their consciences, for which they believed themselves accountable to God only …’ (Act
of Abjuration / Plakaat van Verlatinghe, 1581) ‐ Tolerance as core value of the New Testament
• ‘the magistrate’s power extends not to the establishing of any articles of faith, or forms of
worship, by the force of his laws’ (Locke’s Letter on Toleration, 1689)

• ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances’ (First
Amendment to the US Constitution, 1791)

• ‘Ieder heeft het recht zijn godsdienst of levensovertuiging, individueel of in gemeenschap met
anderen, vrij te belijden, behoudens ieders verantwoordelijkheid volgens de wet’ (Dutch
Constitution I.6 ~1796)

Separation Church – State:

Protestantism
“I esteem it above all things necessary to distinguish exactly the 
business of civil government from that of religion and to settle “All the life and power of true religion consist in the inward and 
the just bounds that lie between the one and the other” (3) full persuasion of the mind; and faith is not faith without 
believing” (3)
Church: State:
‐ Concern with the soul; ‐ Concern with common good; ‐ Locke has a protestant, and private or
‐ Goal of salvation; ‐ Goal of protecting civic rights to 
life, liberty, property;
individualized understanding of faith and 
‐ By means of religious conviction;
‐ Force or threat of force is  ‐ By means of peace and security; religion
inappropriate;  ‐ Enforced by the law and (threat
‐ Respect for civic rights; of) punishment; ‐ Conscience plays an important role
‐ No civic, political, or legal ‐ No religious or spiritual 
jurisdiction jurisdiction

‐ What about catholics and atheists?

 The question of Catholicism Faith and force
• “That Church can have no right to be  “the care of souls cannot belong to the civil magistrate, because
his power consists only in outward force; but true and saving
tolerated by the magistrate which is  religion consists in the inward persuasion of the mind” (3)
constituted upon such a bottom that all those 
who enter into it do thereby ipso facto deliver  ‐ Response by Jonas Proast, ‘The Argument of the Letter 
themselves up to the protection and service  Concerning Toleration, briefly considered and answered’
(1690): Moderate use of force or threat of force is justified
of another prince” because it prepares the soul for accepting faith

Church Limited government

• Free and voluntary community
• Founded on voluntary consent of the members
• Given its foundation in consent, the community
has the right to make its own rules
• Personal souvereinity:  docrtines and the purity of their worship is on both sides equal
“no man will have a legislator imposed upon him but whom
himself has chosen” (5)
“the magistrate’s power extends not to the establishing of any
articles of faith, or forms of worship, by the force of his laws”
(4) (Difference with Thomas Hobbes)
“the controversy between these churches about the truth of their
… The decision of that question belongs only to the Supreme
judge of all men, to whom also alone belongs the punishment
of the erroneous” (7)

State and limited government
The state and Judaism (15):
continued:
• The state takes care of civil and secular • Religion of laws
matters;  • However (Locke): laws only apply to the 
• The state protects the civic rights of  Jewish people
indivicuals • [Synagogues, p. 22]
• For example: laws about circumcision should
be based on reasons of hygiene, laws about
fasting should be based on health reasons, 
laws against human sacrifice
• Polygamy? Headscarves? Minarets? Position
of women?