The central thesis of John Locke’s letter, that toleration is the “chief characteristic mark

of the true Church,” is very well-argued in a logical sense and is an extremely important idea for
those within the Church to consider. Locke posits that no human being truly knows what the
correct path to salvation is, and can only go by his or her own instincts in forming the very
personal beliefs that constitute a religion. Indeed, the very nature of most religions requires that
only God Himself could possibly know such a thing. Therefore, we should not impose our
beliefs on others, partially because it is impossible to force someone to believe something
anyway, and partially because only someone seeking to increase his or her own power would
attempt to do such a thing. It would have nothing to do with trying to live a life in accord with
true spirituality. It seems to me almost ridiculous that these very obvious ideas would need
pointed out to people, but millennia of history has shown otherwise. This leads Locke into his
other main point, which is that human government should be completely separated from the
Church (the foreshadowing of the American Constitution here is very interesting). He observes,
quite correctly, that most religious practices are meaningless in the context of everyday life, and
that certainly they in no way interfere with the civil liberties of people outside the Church.
Therefore, it is simply nonsensical for the government to attempt to influence people in their
beliefs or the ways in which they practice them. Recapitulating a statement from above, to do so
would also expose those in power to be religious frauds, since they would be placing themselves
at the level of God. The brilliance of Locke’s essay is that it functions as a lesson for those in the
Church as to how to important toleration is for them as believers, but that it also exposes the
hypocrisy of many Church leaders. Many opponents of organized religion confuse people’s
incorrect following of the religion with the religion itself. Some religious people are hypocrites
—therefore hypocrisy is inherent to the religion. Some people attempt to force their religion on
others—therefore religion requires intolerance. Locke’s letter shows those outside the Church
that religion is not always what it stereotypically is portrayed to be. This letter cuts to the heart
of some of the very controversial issues surrounding religion, and I found it extremely valuable
both as a Christian and someone who is disenchanted with many of the practices of “the
Church.”