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Praise for John Locke: Philosopher of American Liberty Praise for John Locke: Philosopher of American Liberty Mary-Elaine Swanson’s book on John Locke is a masterpiece of scholarship, made interesting and readable for the twenty-first century. Was Locke a founder of the unbelieving “Enlightenment”? Or was he a Christian apologist who pro- moted a Biblical view of government and society? Mary-Elaine’s fine book gives an authoritative defense of Locke and his Christianity. Marshall Foster, D D Author, Speaker, and President, World History Institute, Thousand Oaks, California Author, The American Covenant: The Untold Story, co-authored by Mary-Elaine Swanson In John Locke: Philosopher of American Liberty, Mary-Elaine Swanson shows how modern academia gets it wrong again. The founding fathers of America are often presented as atheists, or at best a bunch of deists, along with all those political philosophers who influenced them — Locke being chief among them. Un- fortunately, many Christian thinkers have been influenced by these views, writing that Locke exalted reason above revelation and saw the laws of nature as more valuable than the laws of nature’s God. Swanson clearly shows that Locke was no deist, rationalist, or secularist, but Christian in his profession and Biblical in his worldview. According to Locke, “the holy Scripture is to me . the constant guide of my belief; and I shall always hearken to it, as containing infallible truth relating to things of the highest concernment.” Swanson does an excellent job in clarifying ideas of Locke that are misunder- stood, including tabula rasa (the mind as a blank slate) and the laws of nature. She clearly traces the influence of Locke upon the founding of America and shows how the founding fathers and founding clergy looked to Locke as the source of many of their ideas. Jefferson considered Locke as one of the three greatest men that ever lived. Swanson’s book is the best way you can get to know this important man. Stephen McDowell President, The Providence Foundation and Biblical Worldview University Charlottesville, Virginia Free men, especially in America, have recognized a minimum of six kinds of lib- erty. Christians the world over, no matter what form of civil government prevails, can enjoy the first two kinds of internal, God-given liberty: Spiritual or Christian liberty (Romans 2:8; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1) and its correlative, liberty of conscience (Acts 16:24). But in God’s Providence, Americans studied and appropriated much of John Locke’s view of God, man, and government and subsequently enjoyed the fullest expression of the four “external” liberties once secured by our Constitutional Federal Republic: economic, religious, civil, and political liberty. In this compelling and timely volume, Mary-Elaine Swanson affirms John Locke’s Christian character and convictions, and documents how he inspired the American clergy and our founding statesmen, far in advance of others, to elucidate the Biblical and reasonable ground or foundation of American Liberty. Read and be refreshed with the historic path of Biblical reasoning which helped to establish and advance the greatest expression of individual liberty in the history of the world. James B. Rose Author, Educator, and President of the American Christian History Institute Palo Cedro, California ii Praise for John Locke: Philosopher of American Liberty Swanson’s excellent groundbreaking book John Locke: Philosopher of American Liberty is a much-needed antidote to current misinformation about Locke. In Part I, using his essay The Reasonableness of Christianity and other writings, Swanson demonstrates clearly and unmistakably that Locke was a Bible-believing, Trinitarian Christian, and that he based his political theories on his Biblical convictions. In Part II she demonstrates that the colonial American religious and political leaders based their case for independence upon Lockean theory, while the radicals who engineered the French Revolution ignored Locke and followed Rousseau – with tragic results. Finally, she demonstrates that modern American jurists have discarded the Lockean principles of the U.S. Constitution in favor of a “living Constitution” that can be stretched to mean whatever a liberal judge wants it to mean. At last, someone has understood Locke’s thinking and its importance for American constitutionalism today. John A. Eidsmoe, JD, D Min Colonel, Alabama State Defense Force; Legal Counsel, Foundation for Moral Law Author, Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers Mary-Elaine Swanson’s work gives irrefutable, primary-source evidence that Locke’s ideas are rooted deeply in Christian doctrine. “Why is it important to us today that a seventeenth century philosopher has been misunderstood?” she asks. When John Locke’s ideas are characterized as being rooted in godless rationalism, American liberty is mischaracterized because John Locke’s ideas formed the Declaration and the U.S. Constitution. Mrs. Swanson’s John Locke gives strength to the link between Christ and American liberty which is of considerable importance to the future of the United States. Because Americans generally are disconnected from their true national identity, this book should be in every home and every schoolroom. Carole Adams, PhD President, Foundation for American Christian Education Founder, StoneBridge School, Chesapeake, Virginia What a blessing to have a new book showing the Christian contributions of the great English philosopher John Locke, whose political writings were an enormous influence on America’s founders in the establishment of representative government. Often ignored today is the importance of his Biblical faith. This book sets the record straight. Jerry Newcombe, D Min Spokesman, Truth in Action Ministries (formerly Coral Ridge) Author, The Book that Made America: How the Bible Formed Our Nation This book makes clear the impact of “The Great Mr. Locke” upon America’s founding clergy. Their studied sermons and teachings are apparent in the words and reasoning of America’s founding fathers. The intellectual quality with which Mrs. Swanson reveals distortions of Locke’s positions is impressive. This book ranks among the ten most significant books of the decade. It should be read by every American pastor and activist patriot! “Ignorant activism is more dangerous than apathy!” Ben Gilmore Founder and Director, ACH Study Groups, Citrus Heights, California iii Praise for John Locke: Philosopher of American Liberty Government today is on steroids, taking rights from the people at an exponential rate. This is exactly why Mary-Elaine Swanson’s timely book, John Locke – Philosopher of American Liberty, is so vitally needed. If Americans are not aware of where our liberties came from, they will slip through our fingers like sand. The most common form of government in all of the 6,000 years of recorded human history has been dictatorship. Whether called Pharaohs, Caesars, Emperors, Sultans, Rajas, Kings, Khans, Kaisers, or Czars, power always concentrates into the hands of one individual — the dictator. Equality is relative, based on how close a relationship you can get to this dictator. If you are his friend, you are more equal, if you are not his friend, you are less equal, and if you are his enemy, you are dead — it’s called treason. In America, we take for granted ideas such as inalienable natural rights, private property, right to resist unlawful authority, parental authority, separation of powers, and social compact — where governments “derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Our liberties did not occur by accident. They are the result of centuries of sacrifice and brilliant minds, such as John Locke. We are greatly indebted to Mary-Elaine Swanson for helping to preserve our liberties by reminding us of their origins through her classic book. William J. Federer Best-selling author of America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, Change to Chains – the 6,000 Year Quest for Control. Nationally-known speaker, host of Faith in History on TV, and AmericanMinute.com daily radio feature God’s Hand of Providence brings into this hour of history no more timely a volume of work than John Locke: Philosopher of American Liberty, by Mary-Elaine Swanson. Mrs. Swanson’s masterful research of primary sources, patient pursuit of truth, intellectual acuteness, intense labors, and ease in articulating philosophical reasoning with her customarily dignified writing style will be appreciated by all students and lovers of liberty for decades to come. She substantively and convincingly recovers the Christian reputation of an individual so much maligned by modernists of the past two hundred years, of a man counted guilty of denying Christianity by his associations, rather than judged by his intrinsic character and practices. To separate John Locke — the principal philosopher of the American Revolution — from his Christianity is simply to separate America from Christianity. That would attribute the greatest individual liberty known to mankind to the wit and wiles of human reason alone, without the guidance of Divine Revelation; which also is to say man, not God, is the creator of man and is the author of his own liberty. The Constitution of the United States derives its purpose and political principles from The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration is born of the extensively studied and widely taught Treatises On Civil Government by John Locke. Without the Biblical scholarship of a John Locke, American liberty could hardly have ever come to exist
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