Part I | Brief Summary

Category B | Principles

Topic 5 | Civil sphere versus religious sphere

One of English philosopher John Locke’s key contributions to political theory and our understanding of religious freedom was his categorical demarcation between the civil sphere and the religious sphere, and the importance of setting “the just bounds that lie between the one and the other.” According to Locke, the civil sphere should focus on the “care of the commonwealth” and the religious sphere on “a concernment for the interest of men’s souls.”