Review of Diego Lucci, John Locke's Christianity,

There are many good reasons to read Diego Lucci’s book with the utmost attention. First of all, Locke’s Christian beliefs are examined in great detail, so as to highlight their sources, developments, and, mainly, their originality. Luc-ci points out that, although the similarities between Locke’s theological views and those of some religious currents of his time are striking, there are some important differences that prevent us from subsuming his version of Christian-ity under any denomination. The comparison between Locke’s religious beliefs and Arminianism, which was highly influential on English seventeenth-centu-ry latitudinarians, is very illuminating in this regard. As Lucci remarks, Locke’s sympathy with Ariminian soteriolog y emerges both in the Reasonableness of Christianity and in the Paraphrase, where he introduces the concept of assisting grace and the governmental theory of atonement formulated by Hugo Grotius, who was Arminian in theological matters. However, Locke did not embrace the Arminians’ comprehension, which entailed the idea of a less doctrinally rigid national church. To Locke, this model of toleration was likely to generate intolerance against those Dissenters who refused to join the national church and was, therefore, to be discarded in favour of a different model, allowing Nonconformists to enjoy freedom of worship.