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Chapter 11
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Leviathan, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, War, and Civil Society
Power, Common-wealths, and Monarchies
Religion
Fear
Reason, Fact, and Philosophy
Summary
Analysis
Since there is no “fruit of Religion” that is not also in human beings, the “seed of Religion” is also found in human beings, which is an odd quality not found in any other living thing. It is natural for humans to wonder about the causes of events and to be curious as to their own fortune, and it is natural for people to think that which has a beginning also has a cause and reason for beginning when it did. Whenever a person cannot convince themselves of the causes of things, they create a cause, either from their own opinion or from those thought to be wiser.
In addition to religion, Hobbes claims that human beings are also the only creatures capable of being absurd, a similarity that makes religion appear absurd by extension. Hobbes’s explanation of curiosity and the causes of events suggests that humans created religion, and therefore God, as a way to explain the unexplainable. This argument complicates Hobbes’s opinion as to the existence of God. To believe in God is to believe that God created humans, not that humans created God. However, Hobbes does make a distinction between religion and God, which suggests that humans created religion but not necessarily God himself.
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Wondering about the cause of certain events and one’s fortune leads to anxiety, as does considering the beginnings of things, because it is impossible to discern the cause and beginning of all things. This anxiety leads to constant fear, and since one is “in the Dark” concerning the cause of events, they attribute the cause to “some Power, or Agent Invisible,” like God. The substance or matter making up the invisible agent is the same as “the Soule of man,” which appears in dreams and is like an apparition. Such apparitions are “nothing else but creatures of the Fancy” thought to be real, and some people honor them like they would a visible body.
According to Hobbes, visualizing a ghost or someone’s soul is impossible because neither one is made up of matter; thus, there is no object to come into direct contact with the human sense organs. In this way, God in the traditional sense—composed of “the Soule of man—cannot exist. This does not necessarily mean that God does not exist—it simply means that God does not exist in the exact way Holy Scripture claims.
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People who are apt to believe in an invisible agent are likely to believe prophecy from others, especially those they believe to be wise. The “Naturall seed of Religion,” according to Hobbes, consists of four things: belief in ghosts, the ignorance of causes, devotion to what is also feared, and the confusing of opinion for prophecy. All religions contain these four elements; however, beyond this “Naturall seed,” foreign religions can seem ridiculous to even the most religious person.
In short, the “Naturall seed of Religion” relies on ignorance and fear, which people often exploit through craft. Hobbes clearly does not make a distinction between different types of religion (such as Protestantism or Catholicism, two branches of Christianity). To Hobbes, all religions are rooted in ignorance and fear and by definition must be imaginary.
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These seeds of religion are received by two kinds of people: those who obey religion of their own accord, and those who obey religion based on God’s commandment. The initial purpose of religion was to make others more inclined to obedience and civil society, and it consists of invisible powers and the possession of all things by one spirit or another. The Gentiles of long ago explained the world this way. Unformed matter was the god named Chaos; and the heavens, earth, wind, and fire were also known by gods. People and animals were deified, and spirits and demons—like satyrs, nymphs, furies, and fairies—were abundant.
The “Gentiles” Hobbes refers to here are the ancient Greeks and Romans who worshiped numerous deities. Through the lens of Hobbes’s theory, people invented these gods and religions to explain the natural world and keep social order. Hobbes later uses the word “Gentiles” to describe non-Christians more broadly. A Christian believes in only one god, whereas a “Gentile” believes in many gods.
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The Gentiles of long ago attributed everything to gods and religion. Fertility was because of Venus, the arts due to Apollo, and all craft was the fault of Mercury. Prophecy was natural, and it was believed fortunes could be revealed though vague and senseless riddles that priests gave at Delphi. Other prophecies, like those from Nostradamus, have been respected throughout history. At times, the “insignificant Speeches of Mad-men” are “supposed to be possessed with a divine Spirit,” and this possession is known as enthusiasm. Such enthusiasm has led to horoscopy, astrology, necromancy, and witchcraft.
Nostradamus (1503-1566) was a French astrologer and supposed prophet capable of precognition. He published Les Prophéties, a book of prophetic poetry, in 1555. Nostradamus’s book has been in publication almost since its first printing and, according to some, has predicted major world events like WWII and the 9/11 terror attacks. Hobbes, however, implies Nostradamus’s book is the “insignificant speech” of a “mad-man.”
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Gentiles took earthquakes, meteors, and eclipses to foretell great disaster, which again illustrates how easily people can believe anything when guided by fear and ignorance. Thus, when the Gentiles began the first common-wealth to keep people obedient and safe, they did so under the laws and dictates of gods and religion because such laws were easily understood by the people. Through religion, God himself gives laws not only concerning his own worship, but the treatment of people and the kingdom as well. “God is King of all the Earth,” Hobbes says, yet God is also the king of specific nations as well. Hobbes’s discussion of the “Kingdome of God” occurs later in the book.
Here, Hobbes is setting up an argument that he will make later in the book, in which he claims the people of Israel had a special covenant with God that made them subjects of God above and beyond the power God naturally has over the Earth and everyone on it. This passage also explains why religion is such a major part of Hobbes’s argument, especially since he considers it a silly human invention. Regardless of how Hobbes feels about religion, his audience is overwhelmingly religious, and he, too, must put his book into terms they can understand.
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Religion is founded on faith in a single person, who is also believed to be a wise and holy figure; however, those people who require others to believe in a certain religion or religious law and do not believe in it themselves are called scandalous. Scandals cause misstep on the way to religious belief, as occurs with injustice, cruelty, or greed. Religion must be executed and practiced for the love of others, not for self-love or self-interest.
In Hobbes’s opinion, most religion is scandalous, as he implies religion is largely practiced for self-love and self-interest (which is a natural human inclination according to Hobbes). Again, this would have been a very controversial comment in Hobbes’s time, and it likely contributed to his reputation as an atheist.
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For something to be religious, it must also include a miracle. Wise people of sound judgement require signs to believe in any one argument, and in religion, that required sign is a miracle. Additionally, for a religion to be recognized by the “Church of Rome,” it is subject to the authority of the Pope. A king does not have the authority of God until crowned by a Bishop, and any king who is also a priest is not permitted to marry. Any born prince is judged by a Roman authority, and a king may be unseated by the Pope for any reason, or no reason at all. Thus, Hobbes says, all the changes in religion are caused by “unpleasing Priests,” in both Catholicism and Protestantism.
Hobbes is particularly critical of the clergy, especially the Pope, and Hobbes later argues that the clergy largely uses religion for their own personal gain. His description of the “Church of Rome,” or the Catholic Church, appears as the supreme power over all Christians. In this way, the Pope has power even over the sovereign kings and queens of nations (if they’re Christian), which Hobbes ultimately argues diminishes the power of the sovereign and makes them a subject of the Pope.
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