Quiz: A Letter Concerning Toleration

All 30 questions. A perfect score earns the gold medal; 80% earns silver.

1. 1. Who judges between a magistrate and subjects who disagree whether a law is for the public good?

   God alone The church The courts of law A general council
2. 2. What is the utmost punishment a church may inflict?

   Handing him over to the civil magistrate Imprisonment until he publicly recants his error Expelling the offender from the society Fines payable into the church’s treasury
3. 3. How does Locke define a church?

   The religion established by the laws of a country A voluntary society of men joined for the public worship of God A society into which one is born by baptism and remains for life The body of clergy descended from the apostles
4. 4. What does Locke say is the one thing that gathers people into seditious commotions?

   Differences of opinion Oppression Poverty Religious meetings
5. 5. What image does Locke use for a religion forced on an unbeliever?

   A house built on sand, which falls at the first storm A tight shoe forced on a traveller, which lames him long before the journey ends A medicine crammed down a sick man’s throat, which his body turns to poison A seed sown on stony ground, which withers before it can take root
6. 6. Which of these is not among the “Civil Interests” Locke lists?

   The salvation of the soul Possession of money, lands and houses Indolency, or freedom from pain, of body Life and liberty of the person
7. 7. What may the magistrate order regarding the washing of infants?

   He may order it for health, not as baptism for the soul He may order baptism for every child born within his realm He may order it only for the children of Christian parents He may never order any washing of infants at all
8. 8. What Gospel promise does Locke set against the claim that a true church needs bishops in apostolic succession?

   Where two or three gather in his name, he is among them That Peter is the rock on which the church is built That the meek shall inherit the earth That the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church
9. 9. What does Locke call “the chief Characteristical Mark of the True Church”?

   Apostolic succession Orthodoxy of faith Toleration Antiquity
10. 10. Why does Locke refuse to tolerate atheists?

    They owe allegiance to a foreign prince They have no church whose discipline could restrain them Atheism is a form of idolatry forbidden by the moral law Promises, covenants and oaths can have no hold on them
11. 11. When, according to Locke, do zealots preach toleration?

    When the magistrate asks them to When their doctrines are certain When they are in favour with the court and its ministers When they lack the power to persecute
12. 12. What absurdity follows, in Locke’s third consideration, if everyone must follow the prince’s religion?

    Princes would lose their crowns to the clergy The clergy would become unnecessary Salvation would depend on one’s birthplace Every country would end with one and the same religion
13. 13. Which reigns does Locke cite to show the clergy changing their doctrine with the court?

    Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth Charles II and James II James I and Charles I Edward III and Richard II
14. 14. Why does refusing an excommunicated person the bread and wine do him no civil injury?

    They were bought with other men’s money, not his The magistrate permits it He has already received them once The sacrament has no value outside the church
15. 15. What does Popple’s preface say England stands in need of?

    Absolute, just and impartial liberty A new Declaration of Indulgence A national synod to settle doctrine An Act of Comprehension for Presbyterians
16. 16. Which groups does Locke say ought not to be excluded from civil rights because of their religion?

    Atheists and Catholics Pagans, Muslims and Jews Only those who accept the Scriptures Only Protestant dissenters
17. 17. What alone, says Locke, can change men’s opinions?

    Custom and education Penalties and rewards Light and evidence The authority of councils
18. 18. What example does Locke give of a speculative opinion that harms no neighbour?

    A Quaker’s refusal to swear oaths before a court of law A Socinian’s denial of the Trinity A Catholic’s belief that the bread is Christ’s body An Anabaptist’s rejection of infant baptism
19. 19. Why, according to Locke, could ancient Israel punish apostate idolaters?

    Its priests held the civil sword as well as the altar The moral law of Moses binds Christian nations as well Idolatry harmed the property and safety of neighbours God was its civil legislator, so apostasy was treason
20. 20. What contrast does Locke draw between private affairs and church attendance?

    Neighbours ignore a man’s private follies but not his absence from church Neighbours meddle far more in money matters than in matters of religion The magistrate should regulate private spending but never public worship at all Both are rightly regulated by the magistrate’s laws
21. 21. Why would Locke turn merchant at the prince’s command but not follow his religion?

    The prince can make up worldly losses but cannot repair the loss of salvation Merchants are exempt from religious laws Trade is more certain than religion The prince knows more about trade than about God
22. 22. Why, according to Locke’s first consideration, can the people not give the magistrate care of their souls?

    The magistrate is usually an unbeliever The people are too ignorant to choose a religion well No one can make his faith follow another’s dictates Only bishops can receive power over souls by succession
23. 23. When may the magistrate forbid the sacrifice of a calf?

    Never, under any circumstances whatever When a general ban on slaughter is needed, as after a cattle plague Whenever the sacrifice takes place in a religious meeting Only when the church performing it is idolatrous
24. 24. What, according to Locke, would follow if people were born members of a church?

    The magistrate would have to choose the church Faith would pass by inheritance like lands There could be no excommunication Churches could not make laws
25. 25. What point does Locke make with the Turkish emperor?

    The Turks are more tolerant of Christian sects than Christians are Neither an infidel nor a Christian ruler can give a church coercive power Churches should seek protection from whichever ruler is strongest Christians should convert the Turks by argument, not by force
26. 26. In Locke’s example of a church owing allegiance to a foreign prince, to whom does the Muslim owe blind obedience?

    The Mufti of Constantinople The Shah of Persia at Isfahan The Sharif of Mecca and Medina The Grand Vizier of the Sultan
27. 27. Which two churches does Locke imagine living side by side in Constantinople?

    Roman Catholics and Lutherans Quakers and Anabaptists Greek Orthodox and Armenians Arminians and Calvinists
28. 28. In Locke’s parable, what happens once the magistrate of a pagan country becomes Christian?

    Compacts are broken and the pagans driven from their lands unless they convert The magistrate grants equal toleration to Christians and pagans alike The Christians leave the country to found a new settlement of their own The pagans freely convert, won over by the Christians’ charity and example
29. 29. To whom does Locke compare those who cry out “the Church, the Church”?

    The silversmiths of Ephesus The moneychangers driven from the Temple The priests of Baal on Mount Carmel The Pharisees praying in the Temple
30. 30. How does Locke distinguish heresy from schism by common usage?

    Heresy is punished by the magistrate, schism by the church Heresy concerns the clergy, schism the laity of a church Heresy is a private error, schism a public separation Heresy concerns faith, schism worship or discipline