On the Notion of Revelation in the Philosophy of John Locke

This paper attempts to make clear the following points: 1. The system of the philosophy of John Locke is based on his Christian faith, and his main problem was both to investigate the moral principles and to acquire the knowledge of the existence of God, as the ground of morality. This problem is seen all through his works, from his early Essays on the Law of Nature, written shortly after 1660, to Two Treatises of Civil Government, 1690, and An Essay concerning Human Understanding, 1690. Locke deals with the Christian faith directly in his later work, The Reasonableness of Christianity, as delivered in the Scripture, 1695. 2. As it has been since his ESSAYS, the principle of knowledge in his ESSAY, bk. I and II, is the light of nature. But in his ESSAY, bk. IV he speaks not only of natural revelation but also of direct revelation. 3. This direct revelation forms the connecting link between his earlier works and his later ones, The Reasonableness of Christianity and also A Discourse of Miracles. 4. This direct revelation from God is delivered through miracles. The doctrine of miracles is found for the first time in his ESSAY, bk. IV, and has a great significance in his later religious works. 5. The word reasonableness in the title The Reasonableness of Christianity means that the doctrine of Christian religion is conformable to the reason of mankind given by God. It doesnot mean the reasonableness of deism. 6. The doctrine of original sin in The Reasonableness of Christianity does not repudiate original sin, but distinguishes it from original guilt. The salvation from original sin is not given by the law of works, but by the law of faith. Here lies the very rôle of Jesus Christ