Later Unitarians in Christianity 203John Locke (1632-1704)
John Locke, who is best known for his treatises on the social con
tract, was also a man who held Unitarian views but was afraid to
openly declare them. At one point, he was forced to leave England
on account of his political views. On his return, after the revolu
tion of 1688, he madesurethathe did notdirectly offend thepow
ers of the official Church, sinee he feared further persecution. Even
his monograph supporting reason was not liked by the Church,
and another tract written by him had to be published anonymously.
It is known, however, that Locke did study the teachings of the
early disciples of Christ and could find no justification for the be
lief in Trinity. He was a close friend of Newton and obviously dis
cussed this matter, which was so much in dispute in that age, with
him. Le Clere, a friend of Locke and Newton, observes that no con
troversy was ever conduded with so much skill on the one hand
or, on the other, with so much misrepresentation, confusion and
ignorance. It is said that the terms of the Toleration Act of 1689
were negotiated by Locke.
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Newton's illustriouslife has beensummedup by Pope, the famous
English poet, in these words:Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night
God said, 'Let Newton bel' -and all was light. 43And yet Newton was another man who felt it unwise to profess his
beliefs openly:
In 1690, for example, Newton sent John Locke a small packet
containing his written observations on the corruption of the text of
the New Testament as regards 1 John 5: 7and 1 Timothy 3: 16 -both
of which verses, he concluded, had been introduced into the New
Testament at a much later stage, since they do not appear in the
earliest Greek manuscripts, and were never quoted during any of
the arguments and debates that arose between the Unitarian Chris
tians and the Paulinian Christians in the early days of the Church
simply because they did not exist at that time and had not yet been
invented.