Augustine’s writings on grace gave rise to the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination outside the Church.

I FEEL THAT your editorial (“The paradox of Starmerism”, 2 May) seriously misrepresents liberalism, especially in its British incarnation. It has never, as you suggest, advocated the right of individuals to pursue their own self-interest come what may. 

You offer a misleading trinity as the sources or founders of British liberalism in Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Adam Smith. Much more significant were John Milton, John Stuart Mill and William Ewart Gladstone, all three of whom were Christian believers who countenanced a considerable degree of state intervention and regulation to curb the unbridled pursuit of individual self-interest.

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