Few men produced ideas more influential to the founding of this country than the English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) . The most famous in the Declaration of Independence–“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”–echoes many of Locke’s most important ideas.
Locke’s philosophy (and in some places, theology) of government includes seminal concepts like these:
1. All men are born under natural law, a law which comes from God and can be known by all rational creatures.
2. This law requires us to preserve, protect, and work for the flourishing of human life.
3. Because of this natural law, no one has the right to arbitrarily take another man’s life.
4. All men, therefore, are born free, with a God-given right to life, liberty, and property.
5. All men are born equal, not in an absolute sense of equality, but in the sense that they are by nature free.
6. The natural state of liberty is threatened by the persistent evil of man. We consent to be governed and join civil society to gain protection from the evils of others and because we are prone to wrongdoing ourselves.
7. The proper role of government, then, is to safeguard my life and liberty and that of my neighbor.
Here is how Locke puts it in greater detail:
Granted, John Locke is not our Constitution, even less some authoritative creed for Christians. But it would be good for us to look at our first principles of politics rather than just disagreeing on the latest hot button issue or quarantining our theology of government as if Christians shouldn’t talk of such things.
