Toleration | Page 3

done, there can be no end put to the

controversies that will be always arising between those that have, or at
least pretend to have, on the one side, a concernment for the interest of
men's souls, and, on the other side, a care of the commonwealth.
The commonwealth seems to me to be a society of men constituted
only for the procuring, preserving, and advancing their own civil
interests.
Civil interests I call life, liberty, health, and indolency of body; and the
possession of outward things, such as money, lands, houses, furniture,
and the like.
It is the duty of the civil magistrate, by the impartial execution of equal
laws, to secure unto all the people in general and to every one of his
subjects in particular the just possession of these things belonging to
this life. If anyone presume to violate the laws of public justice and
equity, established for the preservation of those things, his presumption
is to be checked by the fear of punishment, consisting of the
deprivation or diminution of those civil interests, or goods, which
otherwise he might and ought to enjoy. But seeing no man does
willingly suffer himself to be punished by the deprivation of any part of
his goods, and much less of his liberty or life, therefore, is the
magistrate armed with the force and strength of all his subjects, in order
to the punishment of those that violate any other man's rights.
Now that the whole jurisdiction of the magistrate reaches only to these
civil concernments, and that all civil power, right and dominion, is
bounded and confined to the only care of promoting these things; and
that it neither can nor ought in any manner to be extended to the
salvation of souls, these following considerations seem unto me
abundantly to demonstrate.
First, because the care of souls is not committed to the civil magistrate,
any more than to other men. It is not committed unto him, I say, by
God; because it appears not that God has ever given any such authority
to one man over another as to compel anyone to his religion. Nor can
any such power be vested in the magistrate by the consent of the people,
because no man can so far abandon the care of his own salvation as

blindly to leave to the choice of any other, whether prince or subject, to
prescribe to him what faith or worship he shall embrace. For no man
can, if he would, conform his faith to the dictates of another. All the
life and power of true religion consist in the inward and full persuasion
of the mind; and faith is not faith without believing. Whatever
profession we make, to whatever outward worship we conform, if we
are not fully satisfied in our own mind that the one is true and the other
well pleasing unto God, such profession and such practice, far from
being any furtherance, are indeed great obstacles to our salvation. For
in this manner, instead of expiating other sins by the exercise of
religion, I say, in offering thus unto God Almighty such a worship as
we esteem to be displeasing unto Him, we add unto the number of our
other sins those also of hypocrisy and contempt of His Divine Majesty.
In the second place, the care of souls cannot belong to the civil
magistrate, because his power consists only in outward force; but true
and saving religion consists in the inward persuasion of the mind,
without which nothing can be acceptable to God. And such is the
nature of the understanding, that it cannot be compelled to the belief of
anything by outward force. Confiscation of estate, imprisonment,
torments, nothing of that nature can have any such efficacy as to make
men change the inward judgement that they have framed of things.
It may indeed be alleged that the magistrate may make use of
arguments, and, thereby; draw the heterodox into the way of truth, and
procure their salvation. I grant it; but this is common to him with other
men. In teaching, instructing, and redressing the erroneous by reason,
he may certainly do what becomes any good man to do. Magistracy
does not oblige him to put off either humanity or Christianity; but it is
one thing to persuade, another to command; one thing to press with
arguments, another with penalties. This civil power alone has a right to
do; to the other, goodwill is authority enough. Every man has
commission to admonish, exhort, convince another of error, and, by
reasoning, to draw him into truth; but to give laws, receive obedience,
and compel with the sword, belongs to none but the magistrate. And,
upon this ground, I affirm that the magistrate's power extends not to the
establishing of