How the Hebrew Bible Shaped the Ideas of One of Liberalism’s Founding Theorists https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-ideas/2023/03/how-the-hebrew-bible-shaped-the-ideas-of-one-of-liberalisms-founding-theorists/

March 8, 2023 | Yechiel Leiter
About the author: Yechiel Leiter is director of the international department of the Shiloh Policy Forum. He has served as deputy director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Education and as chief of staff to Israel’s minister of finance.

Many of the ideas that shaped the modern West—including individual rights, the inviolability of personal property, and the need for religious toleration—have their roots in the work of the English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704). Yet for all that Locke is associated with secularism and the separation of church and state, he cites the Old Testament more than any other classical source in his Two Treatises on Government. By contrast, the treatises make no mention of the New Testament. Yechiel Leiter, a scholar who has devoted much time to exploring the significance of these facts, discusses Locke’s biblical thinking in conversation with Ari Lamm. (Audio, 52 minutes.)

Read more on Good Faith Effort: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/yechiel-leiter-john-locke-and-the-bible/id1536163226?i=1000601996017