The seventeenth century had, for the most part, been interested in theology and government; and its preoccupation, in both domains, with supernatural sanctions, made its conclusions unfitted for a period dominated by rationalism.
Laski discusses the seventeenth century's focus on theology and government, which limited its relevance in a rationalist era.
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Each age makes some idol in its own image and sacrifices upon its altar the freedom of those who refuse it worship.
The essence of the persecuting position is always that the persecutor has hold of truth and that he would betray its service by allowing it to be questioned.
We grant toleration in one part of the field only to deny it in another.
He is able, accordingly, to indulge in the twofold luxury not only of preserving his own authority, but also of assisting the persons attacked to enter, if they so choose, the way of truth.
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