American libertarians and private property absolutists appeal to John Locke, remembered as an English political philosopher. Locke originally positioned himself, however, as a biblical scholar and theologian. As such, Locke departed from Christian tradition. I argue the relationship between Locke’s political philosophy and the Bible is that of a parasite and its host. Christian leaders prior to Locke believed that the earth is the Lord’s, the fruit of the earth belongs to all, and the political community could modify property in various ways because it was ethically and chronologically prior to private property. Locke, however, argued that individuals first create private property by enclosing land and laboring on it, then bring their private properties into political society, which was meant by God to defend individual property rights. He thereby defended both the English Revolution of 1688 and also English colonialism in the Americas. He argued that Native Americans neither managed land appropriately nor developed mature political societies. Thus, Locke appropriated the language of Scripture while draining it of any ability to critique English colonialism. He laid the foundation for European colonists to falsely accuse people of color of both economic laziness and political deviance, using the Bible as a justification for land conquest.