The country is celebrating America’s 250th – the semiquincentennial – and we are uncovering whatever of its religious roots we can find. As many know, English philosopher and physician John Locke, one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers, had a significant influence on the American founding through his many books including A Letter Concerning Toleration, Two Treatises of Government, and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. What was his religion and how did it influence his thinking and writing?

It is our hope that by understanding this better, each of us will be more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

Season 4, Episode 14 – John Locke’s Religion

Guest Bio

Graedon Zorzi is an Assistant Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Patrick Henry College. Dr. Zorzi holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Religious Studies from Yale University, where he worked primarily in the fields of political theory and religious ethics. His recent writing on the Christian origins of classical liberalism has been published in The Historical Journal, The Review of Politics, The Wall Street Journal, and The Hill. He is an ordained pastor, resident in the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic of the Anglican Church in North America.

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article VI and Bill of Rights religion clauses.