Notes from class on John Locke, inspirer of our founders, Pt. I

Standing on the shoulders of men of faith  Luther/ Locke/ Jefferson

The founders said some fascinating things in the Declaration and Constitution. So where did these guys get this stuff?  Make it up? Borrow it?  Pulpit? Masons?

If you said Pulpit you get half credit. Pastors of the time routinely talked faith and government and citizenship.  John Wise 1710, published sermons all about governance principles from Bible.  Long after the Revolution, they asked John Adams who were most significant in founding the country.  He answered: Washington, Jefferson and Rush. BenjaminRush was a pastor/educator who started 5 colleges and first Bible society—also the main advisor to the conventions. The British, mistakenly thinking that Presbyterian pastors were at the core of the revolt, invaded at NYC. Frederick Muelenberg, first speaker of the House, lead congregation to enlist in 1776 by taking off his robe after a service and underneath was a Continental officer”s uniform.

But most historians would like you to answer that they got most of it from John Locke.  

Who was John Locke?  Wikipedia will give you all sorts of facts about him but none of the motivation like Will Durant, The Story of Civiliization. Locke was a medical doctor who graducated in 1658.  His father had been a hero of the English civil War in 1650 and had political connections.  He got young John a job as personal physician of William Shaftsbury, head of the Whig party in Parliament. Shaftsbury was in bad health.  People expected him to die.  He “had one foot in” as my grandmother used to quip.  But Locke correctly diagnosed him with a cyst on his liver and then with several assisting surgeons, did a life threatening operation and saved Shaftsbury’s life.  (In those days without anesthesia, the surgeon had to perform surgeries in under 2 minutes lest the patient die of shock.)They became lifelong friends.  And Shaftsbury invited Locke to help him write the charter for Carolina colony in the new world.  Then he asked Locke what his dream job was and the young man responded that he wanted to do research into mental health.  Quicker than you can say gastroenterology, Locke had a professorship at Oxford College.  And over the next 30 years he did some early landmark research and published it in Essays on Human Understanding. Some call him the father of psychology.

Oxford was the main seminary for Anglican priests and of course the church followed much of the writing of Luther.  Locke, a Puritan, developed a keen love for Luther’s thoughts.  I’d like to ask,

How many of you grew up or attended a Baptist/Presb./Reformed church and also a Lutheran church?  Then you have something in common with the man who inspired American government. Locke merged Calvinist yen for organization of reasonable principles with Luther’s conviction that Bible has understandable answers for everyone. He became a Christian author and wrote “Common Prayer Book of the Bible” and “Reasonableness of Christianity”

            Thirdly, in about 1679, Locke set down a rethinking of the Carolina Charter in a two volume book Two Treatises on government.  He quoted the bible 1500 times in these books. They were radically liberal for their day.

 In the 1680’s England had a crisis with a king.  James II declared that if he didn’t like the laws passed by Parliament, he would just ignore them, and if he wanted some other law he would just pass a royal executive decree to get it.  Parliament and the people rose up and kicked James II out.  Using Locke, who had fled to Netherlands as a go-between they enticed the only other surviving Stuart relative, Mary of Orange and husband, William III of Orange. Mary insisted they be named co-rulers.  William asked for a convention to spell out how he was to rule.  In 1689 William and Mary’s Convention wrote the English Bill of Rights. This was called the Glorious Revolution.Oh and whenever you hear the term Convention, it originated from William and Mary’s Convention of 1689.

So what did John Locke believe in that was so radical?  Do you watch Wheel of Fortune? So what are the 6 letters they give you free in the bonus round?  RSTLNE.  So you can remember Locke

Rights given all men

Separation of Powers of the King (leader) and Parliament (laws)

Tolerance of our fellow man’s choice of church

Liberty of all men, especially of their conscience

Natural Law originated governance.  People make a Social Contract for their nation.

Equality of all mankind

“The people are absolved from obedience when illegal attempts are made upon their liberties or properties.”

            Locke got it from rethinking Luther, especially Luther on Romans.  Luther wrote the second great bombshell bestseller ever printed on the Gutenberg press, “Compendium of Romans”, 1515—500 years ago today! (1^st widely published book had been Erasmus’ Greek New Testament in 1509)

Luther started lecturing at Wittenberg in the Psalms(1513-1514 Tower Experience) but continued with Romans and Galatians, then published a summary of his notes in 1515. Erasmus read Compendium of Romans and was in awe of Luther’s abilities to translate and interpret. But then came Reformation. Papal authorities destroyed the book—except that copies of the introduction survived.  200 years later, John Wesley, listening to the introduction of Compendium at Aldersgate suddenly found faith. I have to ask, how many of you have attended a Methodist church and knew this?

Locke read Luther on Romans in other places such as Augsburg Confession.  1970, Vatican sheepishly found and published Compendium.