John Locke Global Essay Prize 2026 Theology Prompts Breakdown
The John Locke Institute has just released the prompts for their international essay writing competitions for high school students. They have released three prompts for each of the following categories, philosophy, politics, economics, history, law, psychology, international relations, public policy, science & technology and theology. Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration).
To be eligible to compete, one's 19th birthday must fall after 31 May, 2026. Given this easily satisfied requirement for high school students the world over, many compete in this competition, making it incredibly competitive.
The John Locke Competition is one of the most prestigious essay writing competitions for high school students. It ranks alongside the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards as a humanities extracurricular activity that would impress admissions officers. Placing competitively in this competition could be what convinces an admissions officer at an elite university to admit an applicant.
One major difference between the John Locke competition and the Scholastic Writing and Arts Awards is that it has a right-wing, instead of a left-wing focus. Past winning essays have argued for fringe ideas like anarcho-capitalism. The John Locke Institute is committed to upholding the principles of classical liberalism espoused by John Locke, the founder of liberalism. Being liberal in Europe has a different connotation than it does in the U.S. While liberalism in the U.S. is associated with center-left politics like the Democratic Party, in Europe, it denotes what Americans would call libertarians, who believe in laissez-faire economic policies and upholding individual freedom to the point that it might enable individuals to infringe on the liberties of others, such as individuals having the right to deny service to people at their place of business due to their sexual orientation.
Despite the competition's right-wing focus, and the well-known left-wing bias of academics and admissions officers, high school students can place competitively without arguing for positions that would decrease their likability with a left-wing audience when applying to college.
We have extensive experience guiding applicants through this competition and are proud to have students who received at least a commendation from the judges. In this article, we will outline the three theology questions they ask and provide resources, along with cliff notes for these resources, to help start one's journey towards drafting compelling answers to these questions.
Theology Q1: Is religious experience better explained by neuroscience or by theology?
John Locke's Works
1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)
Book IV, Chapter XIX "Of Enthusiasm" examines claims to direct divine revelation
Locke argues enthusiasm bypasses reason and evidence
Proposes that genuine revelation must be tested by reason
Framework for evaluating religious experience claims
2. The Reasonableness of Christianity (1695)
Argues Christianity is fundamentally reasonable
Examines relationship between faith, reason, and revelation
Discusses how we can know religious claims are true
Locke's own integration of religion and empiricism
3. A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)
Argues religious belief cannot be coerced
Discusses the inner nature of genuine faith
Relevant for understanding what religious experience involves
Framework for personal religious conviction
4. A Discourse of Miracles (1701)
Examines how we can know genuine divine action
Distinguishes true miracles from false claims
Relevant for evaluating religious experiences
Locke's epistemology of divine intervention
Historical Resources
1. William James's "The Varieties of Religious Experience" (1902)
Foundational psychological study of religious experience
Argues religious experience should be studied empirically
Identifies common features: ineffability, noetic quality, transiency, passivity
Classic that bridges scientific and theological approaches
2. Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy" (1917)
Introduces concept of "numinous" experience
Argues religious experience involves irreducible "mysterium tremendum et fascinans"
Claims religious experience cannot be fully reduced to other categories
Influential theological treatment
3. Thomas Aquinas's "Summa Theologica"
I, Q. 12 on how God is known
Discusses natural knowledge of God versus revealed knowledge
Distinguishes different modes of knowing God
Medieval framework for understanding religious knowledge
4. Friedrich Schleiermacher's "On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers" (1799)
Defines religion as "feeling of absolute dependence"
Argues religious experience is sui generis, not reducible to ethics or metaphysics
Foundational for liberal Protestant theology
Framework for understanding religion as experience
5. Blaise Pascal's "Pensées" (1670)
"The heart has its reasons which reason knows not"
Distinguishes esprit de géométrie from esprit de finesse
Argues religious knowledge involves different faculty than scientific
Classic statement of limits of rational theology
6. David Hume's "The Natural History of Religion" (1757)
Early naturalistic explanation of religious belief
Argues religion originates in fear, ignorance, and psychological needs
Precursor to modern cognitive science of religion
Skeptical challenge to theological explanations
Contemporary Resources
1. Andrew Newberg's "Why God Won't Go Away" (2001) and neurotheology research
Brain imaging studies of meditation and prayer
Shows neural correlates of mystical experiences
Founder of "neurotheology" field
Scientific approach to religious experience
2. Michael Persinger's "temporal lobe hypothesis"
Claims religious experiences are temporal lobe phenomena
"God helmet" experiments attempting to induce religious experience
Controversial but influential neuroscientific approach
Represents strong reductionist position
3. Alvin Plantinga's "Warranted Christian Belief" (2000)
Argues religious belief can be "properly basic"
Develops Reformed epistemology
Claims religious experience can be genuine knowledge
Sophisticated philosophical defense of religious experience
4. Richard Swinburne's "The Existence of God" (1979, revised 2004)
Chapter 13 on religious experience as evidence for God
"Principle of credulity": Experiences are probably veridical unless defeaters exist
Argues religious experience provides genuine evidence
Philosophical defense of experiential theology
5. Matthew Alper's "The 'God' Part of the Brain" (2006)
Popular treatment of evolutionary/neuroscientific explanations
Argues religion is adaptive cognitive feature
Represents reductionist, debunking interpretation
Accessible neuroscientific skepticism
6. Justin Barrett's "Why Would Anyone Believe in God?" (2004)
Cognitive science of religion approach
Argues belief arises from ordinary cognitive mechanisms (HADD, ToM)
Does not claim this debunks religion
Nuanced cognitive scientific treatment
7. Ann Taves's "Religious Experience Reconsidered" (2009)
Argues for "building block" approach to religious experience
Bridges religious studies and cognitive science
Shows how experiences become "religious" through interpretation
Sophisticated interdisciplinary treatment
8. William Alston's "Perceiving God" (1991)
Argues mystical experience is genuine perception of God
Develops "mystical perception" epistemology
Claims religious experience is on par with sensory experience
Influential philosophical defense
Key Questions and Issues to Address
Definitional Challenges
What counts as "religious experience"? Mystical states, answered prayers, sense of presence?
What does "explained" mean? Caused, described, or explained away?
Are neuroscience and theology mutually exclusive or complementary explanations?
Theoretical Frameworks
Reductionism: Religious experience is "nothing but" brain activity
Non-reductive naturalism: Brain processes are necessary but not sufficient explanation
Theological realism: Experiences are genuine encounters with transcendent reality
Dual-aspect: Neuroscience and theology describe same phenomenon at different levels
How would Locke's empiricism approach this question?
Arguments for Neuroscience Explanation
Brain imaging shows neural correlates of religious experience
Drugs, brain stimulation, and pathology can induce similar experiences
Evolutionary and cognitive explanations show why religion is natural
Parsimony: No need to posit supernatural causes
Arguments for Theological Explanation
Neural correlates don't explain content or veridicality of experience
Mystical experiences across cultures report similar transcendent realities
Neuroscience explains the "how" but theology explains the "what" and "why"
Genuine perception requires brain activity; that doesn't make it illusory
The "Explains" Ambiguity
Does explaining the mechanism debunk the experience?
Compare: Neuroscience of vision doesn't show we don't really see
Genetic fallacy: Origin of belief doesn't determine its truth
But: If experience is fully explained without God, is God superfluous?
Evaluating Religious Experiences
How do we distinguish genuine from illusory religious experiences?
What role does interpretation play in constituting the experience?
Do cross-cultural similarities suggest common reality or common brain?
Can neuroscience and theology collaborate on this question?
Theology Q2: Research shows a strong inverse correlation between religiosity and per-capita spending on education. Does one cause the other?
John Locke's Works
1. Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693)
Locke's comprehensive treatment of education
Discusses relationship between education and character/virtue
Relevant for examining how education affects religious belief
Framework for understanding education's purposes
2. The Reasonableness of Christianity (1695)
Argues Christianity is accessible to ordinary understanding
Suggests education not required for genuine faith
Relevant for examining whether education undermines religion
Locke's view on reason and faith
3. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)
Book I argues against innate ideas, including religious ones
Suggests all knowledge comes from experience and education
Relevant for examining how education shapes belief
Empiricist framework for understanding belief formation
4. A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)
Discusses role of persuasion versus coercion in belief
Argues beliefs are formed through understanding, not force
Relevant for examining how education affects religion
Historical Resources
1. Auguste Comte's "Course in Positive Philosophy" (1830-1842)
Proposes "law of three stages": theological, metaphysical, positive
Argues societies progress from religion to science
Foundational secularization thesis
Framework for education replacing religion
2. Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" (1905)
Examines relationship between religion and modernization
Argues Protestant rationalization contributed to secularization
"Disenchantment of the world" thesis
Framework for understanding religion-modernity relationship
3. Émile Durkheim's "The Elementary Forms of Religious Life" (1912)
Sociological analysis of religion's social functions
Argues religion serves social cohesion purposes
Relevant for examining what might replace religion's functions
Framework for understanding religion in society
4. Peter Berger's "The Sacred Canopy" (1967)
Develops secularization theory
Argues modernization undermines religious plausibility structures
Later revised his views in "The Desecularization of the World" (1999)
Influential and evolving sociological treatment
5. Historical data on literacy and religious change
Protestant Reformation and literacy campaigns
Enlightenment, education, and religious skepticism
19th-century universal education and religious change
Historical context for the correlation
Contemporary Resources
1. Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart's "Sacred and Secular" (2004, 2011)
Uses World Values Survey data
Argues existential security, not education per se, drives secularization
Education correlates with security, which reduces religious need
Influential empirical treatment
2. Phil Zuckerman's research on secular societies
"Society Without God" (2008) on Scandinavian secularism
Examines how high-education, high-welfare societies become secular
Distinguishes correlation from causation
Sociological examination of secular societies
3. Research on education and religious belief
Studies showing educated individuals less religious on average
But also studies showing education increases religious sophistication
Distinction between affiliation, belief, and practice
Complex empirical picture
4. Rodney Stark's critiques of secularization theory
"The Triumph of Faith" (2015) argues religion is not declining globally
Challenges assumption that education causes secularization
Points to religious growth in educated societies (e.g., South Korea)
Counter-narrative to secularization thesis
5. Charles Taylor's "A Secular Age" (2007)
Comprehensive philosophical history of secularization
Argues secularity is not simply absence of religion but new "conditions of belief"
Complicates simple causal stories
Nuanced treatment of religion and modernity
6. Research on religious education
Effects of religious versus secular schooling
Studies on how education content affects belief
Distinction between education quantity and education type
Relevant for understanding mechanism
7. Studies on intelligence, education, and religion
Meta-analyses showing negative correlation between IQ and religiosity
Debates over interpretation and confounds
Raises questions about mechanism of education effect
Controversial but relevant research
8. Economic research on religion
Laurence Iannaccone's rational choice approach to religion
Research on opportunity costs of religious participation
Education increases opportunity cost of religious time
Economic framework for understanding correlation
Key Questions and Issues to Address
Definitional Challenges
How is "religiosity" measured? Belief, practice, affiliation, importance?
What counts as "education spending"? Quantity, quality, type?
What populations are we discussing? Countries, individuals, over time?
Correlation vs. Causation
What are possible causal relationships?
Education spending causes reduced religiosity
Reduced religiosity causes education spending
Third variable causes both
Complex reciprocal causation
What evidence would distinguish these?
Mechanisms: Education → Less Religion
Education promotes critical thinking that challenges religious belief
Education provides alternative explanations (science) for religious questions
Educated people have higher opportunity costs for religious participation
Education exposes people to diverse worldviews, relativizing their own
Universities are secular institutions that socialize away from religion
Mechanisms: Less Religion → Education Spending
Secular societies invest in this-worldly human capital development
Religious societies invest in religious education instead
Religion provides meaning and community that reduce need for education
Religious authority may resist secular education as threat
Correlation reflects different societal priorities
Third Variable Explanations
Wealth/development causes both education spending and secularization
Existential security (Norris/Inglehart) is the real driver
Urbanization causes both effects
Historical/cultural factors (Protestantism, Confucianism) shape both
Demographic transition affects both
Complications
The United States: High education spending, high religiosity
Religious growth in educated Asian societies
Distinction between different types of education
Global South patterns may differ from historical Western experience
Theoretical Frameworks
Secularization theory: Modernization (including education) erodes religion
Rational choice: Education changes incentive structures
Existential security: Education is proxy for security, which reduces religious need
How would Locke's empiricism explain belief formation through education?
Theology Q3: If you achieve enlightenment, how will you know?
John Locke's Works
1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)
Book IV, Chapter IX on knowledge of our own existence
Discusses how we know our own mental states
Chapter XIX on enthusiasm: How to distinguish genuine from false illumination
Framework for examining self-knowledge and verification
2. The Reasonableness of Christianity (1695)
Discusses marks of genuine faith versus false belief
Examines relationship between inner conviction and external confirmation
Relevant for examining how to verify spiritual states
Locke's epistemology of religious knowledge
3. A Discourse of Miracles (1701)
Discusses how to verify genuine divine action
Argues miracles must be tested against reason
Relevant for examining verification of spiritual attainment
Framework for distinguishing genuine from false claims
4. Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693)
Discusses self-knowledge and moral development
Examines how we know we have achieved virtue
Relevant for parallel question of knowing moral progress
Historical Resources
1. The Buddha's discourses on enlightenment
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (First Sermon)
Descriptions of nirvana and its characteristics
Buddha's own account of his enlightenment
Primary source for Buddhist understanding
2. Patanjali's "Yoga Sutras" (c. 400 CE)
Defines stages of samadhi and liberation (kaivalya)
Describes characteristics of enlightened state
Provides systematic framework for spiritual progress
Hindu/yogic approach to the question
3. The Christian mystical tradition
Teresa of Ávila's "Interior Castle" (1577) on stages of prayer
John of the Cross's "Dark Night of the Soul"
Criteria for distinguishing genuine mystical union
Christian framework for spiritual verification
4. Zen Buddhist approach
Emphasis on sudden versus gradual enlightenment
Koan practice and transmission
"If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him"
Paradoxical approach to knowing enlightenment
5. Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" (Republic, Book VII)
Describes journey from darkness to light of truth
Philosopher who escapes knows by contrast with previous ignorance
But cannot fully explain to those still in cave
Classical Western treatment of knowledge and illumination
6. Meister Eckhart's sermons on detachment
Christian mystical treatment of spiritual attainment
Describes characteristics of soul united with God
Addresses how mystic knows the experience is genuine
Medieval Christian mysticism
Contemporary Resources
1. Robert Forman's research on "pure consciousness events"
"The Problem of Pure Consciousness" (1990)
Argues mystical experiences share common core across traditions
Examines what enlightenment experiences have in common
Phenomenological approach to mystical states
2. Daniel Goleman's "The Meditative Mind" (1988)
Maps stages of meditation across traditions
Examines how meditators know they've progressed
Psychological approach to spiritual development
Comparative treatment of contemplative traditions
3. Research on meditation and its effects
Studies on long-term meditators
Measurable changes in brain structure and function
Psychological measures of well-being and equanimity
Scientific approach to verifying spiritual attainment
4. Ken Wilber's "Integral Spirituality" (2006)
Attempts to map stages of spiritual development
Argues enlightenment involves developmental levels
Proposes criteria for assessing spiritual attainment
Influential integrative framework
5. Thomas Metzinger's "The Ego Tunnel" (2009)
Neuroscientific approach to self and consciousness
Examines what enlightenment might mean scientifically
Discusses "ego dissolution" experiences
Scientific perspective on self-transcendence
6. Sam Harris's "Waking Up" (2014)
Secular approach to meditation and spiritual experience
Argues enlightenment is possible without religious belief
Discusses how to recognize genuine spiritual progress
Secular spirituality perspective
7. Culadasa's "The Mind Illuminated" (2015)
Detailed practical guide to meditation stages
Describes markers of progress toward awakening
Combines Buddhist tradition with neuroscience
Contemporary meditation manual approach
8. Buddhist modernist literature
Jack Kornfield's "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry" (2000)
Examines what happens after enlightenment
Addresses how teachers verify students' attainment
Contemporary Buddhist perspective
Key Questions and Issues to Address
Definitional Challenges
What is "enlightenment"? Buddhist nirvana, Hindu moksha, Christian theosis, secular awakening?
Are these different traditions describing the same thing or different states?
Is enlightenment binary (achieved/not) or a matter of degree?
The Epistemological Problem
How can one know one has achieved a state one has never experienced?
Self-assessment is notoriously unreliable in other domains
Could one be enlightened and not know it? Know falsely that one is?
Is the question self-undermining (true enlightenment involves not caring about knowing)?
Possible Criteria for Knowing
Phenomenological: The experience has distinctive, unmistakable qualities
Behavioral: Lasting changes in conduct, equanimity, compassion
Cognitive: New understanding or perspective that cannot be lost
Relational: Recognition by enlightened teachers or community
Negative: Absence of suffering, craving, delusion
Pragmatic: The fruit of the path confirms the attainment
Tradition-Specific Approaches
Buddhism: Cessation of suffering, three characteristics directly known
Hinduism: Recognition of Atman-Brahman identity
Christianity: Indwelling of Holy Spirit, fruits of Spirit
Secular: Lasting well-being, ego dissolution, reduced reactivity
Problems with Each Criterion
Phenomenological: Experiences can be mimicked or misinterpreted
Behavioral: Changes could have other causes
Cognitive: Delusion could include false certainty
Relational: Teachers can be wrong or self-interested
Negative: Temporary relief is not enlightenment
Pragmatic: Placebo effects and confirmation bias
The Verification Paradox
If you need external verification, perhaps you haven't truly attained
If you claim certainty, you may be exhibiting spiritual ego
Many traditions emphasize humility about one's attainment
But complete uncertainty seems to undermine the concept
Theoretical Frameworks
Foundationalism: Enlightenment provides self-evident, incorrigible knowledge
Coherentism: Enlightenment coheres with teachings, practice, community
Pragmatism: Enlightenment is known by its fruits and effects
How would Locke's empiricism and skepticism about "enthusiasm" apply?
Contemporary Questions
Can neuroscience verify enlightenment?
Are "enlightened" teachers reliable judges of students' attainment?
What explains false claims to enlightenment (delusion, fraud, partial attainment)?
Is the question itself a trap that enlightenment transcends?
If you are overwhelmed by the number of sources and complexity of answering these questions, we understand. English teachers don't prepare high school students to tackle such formidable challenges in the humanities. But we do. Schedule a free consultation with a John Locke competition writing expert today and learn how to unpack all of these sources to write a coherent and logically sound 2000 word essay which will earn you a competitive placing in this competition and impress admission officers.
Work With Our John Locke Expert Coaches
If you are overwhelmed by the number of sources and complexity of answering these questions, we understand. English teachers don't prepare high school students to tackle such formidable challenges in the humanities. But we do.
Cosmic College Consulting has helped students earn shortlists, commendations, and prizes in the John Locke Competition. Our three expert coaches have collectively supervised 50+ John Locke essays and bring deep expertise in philosophy, politics, economics, and academic writing.
Marcus Lewis
John Locke Specialist | Scholastic Writing Expert
Supervised 25+ John Locke Competition essays with 10+ students earning commendations
Extensive Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards coaching, most students earn Gold or Silver Keys
Experience across fiction, satire, and argumentative essay forms
Coached students for Columbia Undergraduate Law Review Essay Competition (1 shortlist)
Additional experience with Profiles in Courage, Harvard Economics Essay, Bowseat, Engineer Girl, and Patricia Grodd Poetry competitions
Dr. Jason Goldfarb
PhD, Duke University | Published Academic & Periodical Writer
Supervised 25+ John Locke Competition essays, students have earned shortlists, Junior Prize placements, and top commendations
Supervised 10+ independent student research papers
Guided student publications in TeenInk, Scholastic, and IEEE Harvard
Published author in professional academic journals and popular periodicals
Brings doctoral-level expertise in constructing rigorous academic arguments
Ready to Write a Winning Essay?
Schedule a free consultation with one of our John Locke expert coaches today. Learn how to unpack these sources, develop a compelling thesis, and write a coherent, logically sound 2000-word essay that will earn you a competitive placing in this competition and impress admissions officers.
