{"id":6494,"date":"2014-09-22T13:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T17:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/?p=6494"},"modified":"2016-03-17T11:03:36","modified_gmt":"2016-03-17T15:03:36","slug":"podcast-54-john-edwards-vs-john-lockes-reasonableness-of-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-54-john-edwards-vs-john-lockes-reasonableness-of-christianity\/","title":{"rendered":"podcast 54 &#8211; John Edwards vs. John Locke&#8217;s Reasonableness of Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_8823\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6494-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities054.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities054.mp3\">http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities054.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities054.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/?powerpress_pinw=6494-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities054.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"trinities054.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/7FuUF9DZM3zhtN41n6RJ6l\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_spotify\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Spotify\" rel=\"nofollow\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribebyemail.com\/trinities.org\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe by Email\" rel=\"nofollow\">Email<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6496\" src=\"http:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Yosemite-Sam.gif\" alt=\"Yosemite Sam\" width=\"350\" height=\"291\" \/><strong>John Edwards (1637-1726)<\/strong> was an Anglican Calvinist and would-be defender of Christian orthodoxy. Seemingly at the last minute, he tacked on to his <em>Some Thoughts Concerning the Several Causes and Occasions of Atheism<\/em> (1695) a critique of Locke&#8217;s <em>Reasonableness<\/em>.<strong> Guns blazing, he charged Locke (among other things) with<\/strong> promoting &#8220;<strong>Socinianism<\/strong>&#8221; (aka &#8220;Racovian&#8221; theology, i.e. the type of unitarian theology famously expounded by the Polish Brethren, aka the Minor Reformed Church of Poland in the 17th c.), with <strong>despising<\/strong> the epistles of the New Testament, and so promoting biblical <strong>ignorance<\/strong>, perhaps, speculated Edwards, in service to Roman Catholicism! After a somewhat unsatisfying reply by Locke, Edwards followed with <em>Socinianism Unmask&#8217;d<\/em> (1696), in which he objects that if Locke is right,<strong> every Muslim is automatically a Christian<\/strong> &#8211; which, of course, is absurd.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In this episode, we hear<\/strong> from Edwards&#8217;s books, and I point out some shortcomings of Edwards&#8217;s arguments. He can&#8217;t seem to stop himself from arguing <em>ad hominem<\/em> &#8211; against the man, criticizing Locke&#8217;s\u00a0character &#8211; rather than sticking to the topic of dispute.\u00a0<strong>And Edwards assumes that<\/strong> because Locke doesn&#8217;t mention all the things Edwards would put into a summary of Christian belief, then Locke either denies or simply doesn&#8217;t value them.<\/p>\n<p>In truth, probably Locke did deny some, and consider others as speculations, while believing others as firmly as Edwards. But what&#8217;s important is that Edwards is <strong>missing the point<\/strong>. Of course, <strong>Locke agrees that<\/strong> Christians must believe <em>whatever<\/em> is divinely revealed (and he&#8217;s far more concerned than Edwards about Christian disputes about the contents of revelation).But Locke is not listing what Christians should believe, but rather, what one must believe (or as I suggested in episode 53, must <em>confess<\/em>) in order to join the club. This latter list <em>should<\/em> be a lot shorter than the former list, lest there be a high barrier to entry into God&#8217;s kingdom; it would be unwise for God to want to save many, and then to require beliefs which only a few are capable of. This is one of Locke&#8217;s main points (and <strong>he thinks God has acted exceedingly wisely<\/strong>), but Edwards doesn&#8217;t grapple with it.<\/p>\n<p>You can also <strong>listen t<\/strong><strong>o this episode<\/strong> (and all others) on <strong><a title=\"trinities podcast playlist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLMCt15e8gG-g7t7wo9MCq9KSDSsvGNcsm\" target=\"_blank\">youtube<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(scroll down), <strong><a title=\"trinities podcast @ stitcher\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/s?fid=54067&amp;refid=stpr\" target=\"_blank\">stitcher<\/a><\/strong>, or <strong><a title=\"trinities @ itunes\" href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/trinities-podcast-feed\/id690304581?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\">itunes<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(please rate us there).\u00a0 If you would like to <strong>upload audio feedback<\/strong> for possible inclusion in a future episode of this podcast, <a title=\"upload audio feedback for the trinities podcast here\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mediafire.com\/filedrop\/filedrop_hosted.php?drop=96df5ea43b9b7c6582cb95b8c5a7259d7cd8109e0cd009d4a5ecd099cc7e64fb\" target=\"_blank\">put the audio file here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Next week, in episode 55<\/strong>, we&#8217;ll hear some of Locke&#8217;s <em>A Second Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity, &amp; etc.<\/em>, where Locke calls out some\u00a0shortcomings of Edwards&#8217;s case, and makes some important points the ethics of belief, and about disagreements between informed, sincere, humble, and biblically literate Christians. We&#8217;ll also discuss some shortcomings of Locke&#8217;s responses.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Links<\/strong> for this episode:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><a title=\"The Reasonableness of Christianity\" href=\"http:\/\/astore.amazon.com\/trinities-20\/detail\/1855065223\" target=\"_blank\">John Locke: The Reasonableness of Christianity as Delivered in the Scriptures<\/a><\/em>. A reprint edition, which also includes reprints of two follow-up books in which Locke defends himself. Includes helpful introduction by philosopher Victor Nuovo.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Locke's Vindications\" href=\"http:\/\/astore.amazon.com\/trinities-20\/detail\/0199286558\" target=\"_blank\"><em>John Locke: Vindications of the Reasonableness of Christianity<\/em><\/a>. The definitive scholarly edition of the two follow-up books, edited with extensive notes by Victor Nuovo. Extracts of numerous writings relevant to Locke\u2019s book and the ensuing controversy.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"John Locke and Christianity\" href=\"http:\/\/astore.amazon.com\/trinities-20\/detail\/1855065398\" target=\"_blank\"><em>John Locke and Christianity: Contemporary Responses to The Reasonableness of Christianity<\/em><\/a>, ed. Victor Nuovo. Includes partial versions of Edwards&#8217;s <em>Some Thoughts Concerning the Several Causes and Occasions of Atheism <\/em>and his\u00a0<em>Socinianism Unmaks&#8217;d <\/em>&#8211; quoted in this episode.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"episode 52\" href=\"http:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/archives\/6408\" target=\"_blank\">podcast episode 52<\/a> \u2013 John Locke\u2019s The Reasonableness of Christianity, Part 1<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"episode 53\" href=\"http:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/archives\/6464\" target=\"_blank\">podcast episode 53<\/a> \u2013 John Locke\u2019s The Reasonableness of Christianity, Part 2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Edwards (1637-1726) was an Anglican Calvinist and would-be defender of Christian orthodoxy. Seemingly at the last minute, he tacked on to his Some Thoughts Concerning the Several Causes and Occasions of Atheism (1695) a critique of Locke&#8217;s Reasonableness. Guns blazing, he charged Locke (among other things) with promoting &#8220;Socinianism&#8221; (aka &#8220;Racovian&#8221; theology, i.e. the&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-54-john-edwards-vs-john-lockes-reasonableness-of-christianity\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">podcast 54 &#8211; John Edwards vs. John Locke&#8217;s Reasonableness of Christianity<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,21,16,15,58,4,14,59,9,57,7,3,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apologetics","category-bible","category-books","category-christology","category-creeds","category-heresy-orthodoxy","category-history","category-islam","category-philosophy","category-podcast","category-quotes","category-theories","category-unitarianism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6494"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37194,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6494\/revisions\/37194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}