Is John Locke a philosopher or theologian? When considering Locke's religious thought, scholars seldom point to his Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul. This is puzzling since the Paraphrase is his most extensive treatment of Christian theology. Since this is the final work of his life, did Locke undergo a deathbed conversion? The scholarship that has considered the Paraphrase often finds Locke contradicting himself on various theological doctrines. In this dissertation, I find that Locke not only remains consistent with his other writings, but provides his subtlest interpretation of Scripture. He is intentionally subtle in order to persuade a Protestant audience to modern liberalism. This is intended to make Protestantism, and specifically Calvinism, the vehicle for modern liberalism. This is seen clearly in Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Though Weber concludes that Protestant support for capitalism in the late 19th Century is due to its theological foundation, I find that Weber is actually examining Lockean Protestantism. Locke's success in transforming Protestantism is also useful today in showing how a modern liberal can converse with someone who actively opposes, and may even wish to harm, modern liberalism. The dissertation analyzes four important Protestant doctrines: Faith Alone, Scripture Alone, the church and family, and Christian political life.

La République de Pologne-Lituanie, par sa forme de gouvernement unique, a suscité l’intérêt d’auteurs français fondamentaux tels que Théodore de Bèze, Jean Bodin, Montesquieu, Voltaire et Jean-Jacques Rousseau, mais aussi de penseurs aujourd’hui moins connus, comme Jean Boucher, Claude de Rubis ou Nicolas Baudeau. La Pologne apparaît dans la littérature politique française dès 1573, date à laquelle Henri de Valois fut élu roi de Pologne, jusqu’en 1795, moment de la disparition de la carte de l’Europe de l’État polono-lituanien. Malgré cette présence continue, elle ne fut que très peu étudiée dans l’historiographie française. Pourtant, elle représente une clé de lecture passionnante pour éclairer les débats politiques français de l’époque moderne, ce qu’entreprend de démontrer cette thèse. / The Republic of Poland-Lithuania, with its unique form of government, aroused the interest of fundamental French authors such as Théodore de Bèze, Jean Bodin, Montesquieu, Voltaire or Jean-Jacques Rousseau, but also the attention of less known thinkers like Jean Boucher, Claude de Rubis or Nicolas Baudeau. Poland appeared in French political literature in 1573, when Henri of Valois was elected king of Poland, until 1795, when the Polish-Lithuanian state disappeared from the map of Europe. Despite this continuous presence, it has been insufficiently analyzed in the French historiography. Yet, it represents a fascinating key for reading the French political debates of the modern era. This thesis aims at demonstrating it.