John Locke's Theology An Ecumenical, Irenic, and Controversial Project

In John Locke's Theology: An Ecumenical, Irenic, and Controversial Project, Jonathan S. Marko offers the closest work available to a theological system derived from the writings of John Locke. Marko argues that Locke's intent for The Reasonableness of Christianity, his most noted theological work, was to describe and defend his version of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and not his personal theological views. Locke, Marko says, intended the work to be an ecumenical and irenic project during a controversial time in philosophy and theology. Locke described what qualifies someone as a Christian in simple and irenic terms, and argued for the necessity of Scripture and the reasonableness of God's means of conveying his authoritative messages. The Reasonableness of Christianity could be construed as personal, but mainly in the sense that it puts the burden of understanding Scripture and arriving at theological convictions on the autonomous individual, rejecting the notion that one should base one's doctrinal opinions on so-called authorities. His work was inadvertently controversial partly because then, like today, readers typically failed to make a distinction between Locke's personal and programmatic positions.

Marko also points to places in Locke's corpus where he avoids advocating for a particular sectarian position in his treatment of theological doctrines. What is more, it shows why attempting to categorize Locke--a philosopher, theologian, and political scientist all at once--according to traditional Christian paradigms is a dangerous misstep and a difficult scholarly feat.

Dr. Jonathan S. Marko is Associate Professor of Philosophical and Systematic Theology at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His primary areas of research are theological and philosophical thinkers, debates, and thought systems that arose in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially in Britain.

Preface

Introduction: The Problems of Understanding John Locke

PART I: THE REASONABLENESS OF REDEMPTION
Chapter 2: John Locke's Preoccupation with Theology and Eternal Salvation in His "Non-Theological" Works
Chapter 3: John Locke on Justification and Some Concomitant Doctrines
Chapter 4: Why John Locke Thought That the Fundamental Articles Must Be Minimal

PART II: THE REASONABLENESS OF REVELATION
Chapter 5: John Locke on the Necessity of Scripture amidst the Innate Idea Controversy and the Rise of Deism
Chapter 6: John Locke on the Necessity of Miracles for Divine Revelation

PART III: PARALLELS IN LOCKE'S LARGER CORPUS
Chapter 7: John Locke and the "Free Will" Controversies: Why "Of Power" Is Not a Metaphysical Pronouncement
Chapter 8: John Locke and the Above Reason Controversy
Chapter 9: Can One Assent to the Doctrine of the Trinity According to Lockean Epistemological Principles?

Epilogue: The Coherence of John Locke and His Theological Project
Bibliography