Leviathan: Chapter 32 Summary & Analysis

Next, Hobbes will discuss the Christian common-wealth, which is a common-wealth that depends on the “Supernaturall Revelations of the Will of God.” Believing in the supernatural power of God does not mean to abandon one’s senses or rational experience, as those, too, are gifts from God. In a Christian common-wealth, when something cannot be understood by reason and natural science, it is thought to be due to the mystery of God. When God speaks to a subject, it is done immediately or through another person. God speaking immediately can only be understood by those God has actually spoken to. God has spoken through others in the form of Holy Scripture as told by the Apostles and Prophets.  

For one to say God spoke to them in a dream is only to say that they dreamed God spoke—it does not mean God has actually spoken. Similarly, one who claims to have a vision of God may just mistake their dreams for a vision. God has the ability to speak through dreams, visions, and voice, but no one is obliged to believe others who say God has spoken to them, since people often lie.

For those who have never heard the voice of God, either through visions, dreams, or voice, can turn to Holy Scripture to know what they are supposed to obey. However, it is common for one prophet to deceive another, so Hobbes offers two marks that together indicate a “true Prophet.” One mark is the performing of a miracle, and the other is the teaching of only the established religion and no other. Both of these marks must be present together for a prophet to be considered true. For example, if a prophet performs a miracle and then entices subjects to follow a strange god, they are not a true prophet.