Moscow, Gaidar Institute Press, 2013. – 432 p.
ISBN 978-5-93255-357-2
The book is devoted to the analysis of the contexts of the works of the English thinker John Locke (1632-1704), published during his lifetime anonymously and named by him "his" only in his will: "Two treatises on government", "Message of tolerance" and "the Reasonableness of Christianity". It is hypothesized that the lost "middle" part of the "Two treatises" was devoted to the question of tolerance. Instead of this missing part, Locke's friends published a pamphlet, "Epistola de Tolerantia", and then its translation into English. The thesis of the separation of Church and state as the most important requirement of Christianity is at the center of Locke's political thought. In the Reasonableness of Christianity, Locke discusses the overcoming of discord among Christians, offering principles of sincere reading and understanding of the Holy Scriptures that are free from blind adherence to "systems" and necessary for personal salvation.
For a wide range of readers interested in the intellectual and political history of Europe in the second half of the XVII century.
