Rowe's incorrect view of The State of Nature...Again:

Positive Liberty's Jon Rowe, as well as the secular progressive movement continue to distort our Founding Father's view of the Law of Nature(State of Nature), by violating the Framers and Christian Philosophers' application of words. Rowe's latest post is incorrect because he attributes philosophical wordage, an abandonment of a biblical view.
http://positiveliberty.com/2007/08/the-state-of-nature.html#more-2623

ADDED UPDATE ON JOHN LOCKE, AUG 10, 2007.

John Locke was NOT an adherent of the enlightenment. He fought against it with his many treatises. The true enlightenment thinkers: Hume, Rousseau, Voltaire, etc. were the ones Locke, Blackstone, Grotius, Puffendorf, and Montesquieu rivaled with. The enlightenment thinkers were ones who denied the essentials of the faith, the supernatural, etc. Locke and the other Christian Philosophers did not deny essentials of the salvation of Christianity.

Until Rowe and the secular progressives understand this error, they will continue to misunderstand the Christian beliefs of the Founding Fathers. The framers used philosophical wordage, as well as the Born Again Christian founders:
And let us play the man for our God, and for the cities of our God; while we are using the means in our power, let us humbly commit our righteous cause to the great Lord of the Universe, who loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity... let us joyfully leave our concerns in the hands of him who raiseth up and pulleth down the empires and kingdoms of the world as he pleases; and with cheerful submission to his sovereign will, devoutly say: "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet we will rejoice in the Lord, we will joy in the God of our salvation."
John Hancock-Boston Massacre Oration. March 5th, 1774.

Rowe and secular progressives who deny John Locke's Christianity is a betrayal of truth and the promotion of revisionist history. Rowe and secular progressives do not understand Christianity, that's why they doubt John Locke's Christianity. The man was a Theologian, who studied the bible all day long! It's unbelievable how the secular progressive movement perverts the views of the Christian Philosophers. I dare one secular progressive to post the writings of John Locke clearly denying the the Trinity, and Deity of Jesus Christ! Denying original sin, and eternal damnation is not mandatory to be a Christian, as well as claiming someone is of the enlightenment or theistic rationalist leanings. As long as the essentials of Christianity are not violated, it is not heresy. If you read Locke's Second Vindication, you will see his reason for rejecting original sin is that he couldn't believe God would condemn babies who had prematurely died, and humans not attaining the age of accountability. Locke wrongfully assumed God will judge all humans based on original sin. God only judges people that are at the age of accountability. That is why King David believed he would again see his new born son that died, on account of his sin with Bathsheba.

Rowe wrongfully describes the Law of Nature and who the Founders attributed it to:

The idea of the state of nature traces to Hobbes. Though the form that our Founders embraced was Locke’s. This is important: Locke’s state of nature differed from Hobbes’ and provided the model our Founders followed when they declared independence; but the concept of the state of nature itself was nonetheless formulated by Hobbes.>>

The state of nature, which actually is encompassed in the Law of Nations, is derived from the Law of Nature-our Founding Fathers believed it was from God. The concept was understood from the scriptures through Christian Theologians. A Republican form of Government(ruled by law) is straight from the Bible, for it is God's Law that rules from elected representatives, rather than the perverted form of democracy, where Biblical law can be changed by the will of the majority. Under a Republic, murder will always be murder because the Bible says so. The United States is founded on the Religion and morality of the Bible, rather than the perverted liberal enlightenment principles, which attack, and pervert the Bible. A Republican form of Government is based on Deut 1:15-17,
"...made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes..."
This government can only last if the people are moral and virtuous, as the framer's claimed. and the majority rules doctrine, beyond the rule of law is consistent with the Law of Nature. Locke did not form any theories that were not already laid down in the Bible, the jury system of Common Law, and separation of powers is also in the Bible.

Here is another instance of Rowe perverting Christianity, and the views of John Locke:

Now, because Locke 1) has God take a central role in this theory, and 2) called himself a Christian and defended the Christian religion as “reasonable,” otherwise uninformed folks could easy confuse Locke’s teachings from his second treatise with authentically Christian principles. However, they are not...Just because Locke had God play a central role in his liberal democratic theory does not mean there is anything authentically biblical or Christian about Locke’s teachings.>>
http://positiveliberty.com/2007/08/the-state-of-nature.html#more-2623

It doesn't get anymore whacky than this. Because Locke didn't believe in original sin, Rowe uses this to twist Locke's views on Christianity. Denying original sin, or eternal damnation is not a product of the enlightenment or rationalism, it is what Locke wrongly thought the Bible taught. Rowe and the secular progressives need to study the scriptures more and understand original sin is not mandatory to be a Christian, but I doubt they will. There is no clear evidence, I repeat, there is no clear evidence that John Locke denied the Deity of Jesus Christ!

Again Rowe mistakenly assumes:

Just because Locke had God play a central role in his liberal democratic theory does not mean there is anything authentically biblical or Christian about Locke’s teachings.>>

It doesn't get anymore perverted than that statement! John Locke was a Christian Theologian, Yet so heavily did Locke draw from the Bible in developing his political theories that in his first treatise on government, he invoked the Bible in one thousand three hundred and forty nine references; in his second treatise, he cited it one hundred and fifty seven times.
How can so many references to the Bible in Locke's most famous political work be reconciled with the charge that his political philosophies were totally secular? or theistic.
In 1669, John Locke assisted in the drafting of the Carolina constitution under which no man could be a citizen unless he acknowledged God, was a member of a church, and used no “reproachful, reviling, or abusive language” against any religion.
http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=106
John Locke, A Collection of Several Pieces of Mr. John Locke Never Before Printed or Not Extant in His Works (London: J. Bettenham for R. Francklin, 1720), pp. 3, 41, 45, 46.

Locke went to seminary! How does this refer to secular philosophy?

It only gets worse folks, Rowe again:

And in doing so, arguably they invoked a different God — a benevolent unitarian deity — the God of the theistic rationalists, not the biblical God.>>

Locke's belief in miracles takes care of the theistic rationalist rant:

God only rarely uses miracles. "Though it be easy for omnipotent power to do all things by an immediate overruling will, and to make any instruments work even contrary to their nature, in subserviency to his ends, yet his wisdom is not usually at the expense of miracles . . . but only in cases that require them for the evidencing of some revelation or mission to be from him...If it were not so, the course and evidence of things would be confounded; miracles would lose their force and name; and there could be no distinction between natural and supernatural."
The Reasonableness of Christianity

The reason why Rowe and the secular progressives are so wrong on all the issues is because they do not understand Christianity and the Bible. This proves my point:

Orthodox Christians needed to rely on such an a-biblical Enlightenment system of thought because the Bible simply doesn’t speak to issues with which the Whig republicans were concerned (like a right to revolt).>>

It is in the Bible! Just find where it is and reconcile it. God affirms revolt over an unrighteous kingdom at the beginning of human history in Gen 14:14-20. A Theophany of Jesus Christ(Melchizidek) Priest of the Most High God affirms what Abram did. Righteous revolt over government is in the Bible countless times.

Even orthodox Christians like John Witherspoon, Sam Adams, Patrick Henry and John Jay were influenced by an a-biblical Enlightenment worldview, especially when they argued for republicanism.>>

None of those men denied the Deity of Jesus Christ, and believed the Bible was superior in all matters.

Jesus didn’t overturn one social institution. Not slavery, not any of the illiberal forms of government.>>

Was He supposed to? What was His mission? Is do unto others as you would have them do to you not anti-slavery?

And indeed, Paul instructs Christians, in Romans 13, in no uncertain terms, to obey an illiberal, undemocratic, unelected tyrant who never sought consent to rule over believers.>>

Another incorrect quote. It's amazing so many errors on one post. The context is to be a minster of God to thee for good. Only a just and righteous government has God's approval.

Overall, Rowe and the secular progressive movement are completely wrong about the beliefs of the Founding Fathers, John Locke, The Law of Nature, and practically everything they propose because they lack the true understanding of this universe through the Law of Nature's revelation, the Bible.