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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
Cicero writes about a judge in ancient times who always asked criminals, “Cui bono?” The judge’s question asks what benefit the illegal action had for the accused criminal, and Hobbes applies this same question to the false religious doctrine that plagues Christendom. He first considers the incorrect belief that the Church is God’s Kingdome on Earth. It is through this belief that the Pope became “Pontifex Maximus,” and even after some churches renounced the Pope and became the Presbytery, they still kept the false doctrine of the church as God’s Kingdome. “Cui bono?” Hobbes asks. Because it benefits both the Roman and Presbyterian clergy, he answers.
Hobbes argues that the clergy benefit from the false doctrine followed in both the Catholic and Presbyterian churches because such beliefs assume that the church assembly must maintain the clergy through charity and offerings. As such false doctrine supports the clergy financially, they have many reasons to allow it and perpetuate it.
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The proof of this benefit to the clergy can be seen within the false doctrines themselves. For example, the infallibility of the Pope and the belief that the Pope cannot error obviously benefits the Pope. Clergymen are exempt from the laws of a common-wealth and are subjects of the Pope before the sovereign power; however, they are maintained by the common-wealth’s public coffers, which also benefits the clergy.
As the clergy are also subjects of a common-wealth, Hobbes suggests that it isn’t fair for clergymen not to be held to the same sovereign power as the rest of the subjects, especially since the clergy is financially supported by the very same subjects. This practice does not adhere to the rules of equity within the Laws of Nature and is therefore against God’s will.
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The belief that marriage is a holy sacrament that can be performed only by clergy allows the Church to decide which children are legitimate, and this subsequently allows the church to control the succession of kings, which again benefits the clergy. Holy Confession, too, benefits the clergy, as it gives the clergy “better intelligence” than the sovereign power. False belief in transubstantiation, absolution, Purgatory, demons, and exorcism also benefit the clergy, as such beliefs allow the Pope and other clergymen to gain more power through awe and fear.
In this section, Hobbes specifically disproves those false beliefs that exist to benefit the clergy only. Such false beliefs are not rooted in the Word of God; thus, there is no reason for Christians as a whole to continue adhering to such doctrine. Observing false doctrine, Hobbes stresses, further thrusts Christianity into darkness and away from God’s true light.
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Thus, by asking “Cui bono,” Hobbes is able to demonstrate that “the Authors of all this Spirituall Darknesse” are the Pope and clergy of both the Roman and Presbyterian churches. Teachers, too, can be named responsible, as the preaching of false doctrine is impossible without them. However, Hobbes mostly blames those who, in the beginning, used their power to push false doctrine and give false power to the Pope.
In short, Hobbes blames the Catholic Church specifically for pushing the false power of the Pope. While the Presbyterian Church is complicit in propagating the false doctrine of God’s Kingdome on Earth, it was the Catholics in particular who threatened the power of Christian sovereigns with the absolute power of the Pope.
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In the beginning, the people obeyed the Apostles because they revered them, not because they were obligated to do so. In the time after the Apostles, when the clergy assembled to decide what Holy Scripture to teach, they resolved to teach only that which was approved by their assemblies. This new clergy compelled Christians to believe their doctrine, and if anyone refused, they were excommunicated. This power that the clergy had over the people “was the first knot upon their Liberty.”
After the Apostles, Christians believed in the approved doctrine because they were forced to, not because they admired and honored the clergy as they did the Apostles. Since this belief was forced, Hobbes implies that is was not freely believed; thus, it “was the first knot upon [the people’s] Liberty.”
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As the number of clergy increased, the head clergyman of any given city or province was given authority over the other clergymen and called a “Bishop,” which “was a second knot on Christian Liberty.” Then, the Bishop in Rome named himself “Pontifex Maximus” of all clergy and Christian sovereigns, and the “third and last knot” was tied. This process can also be seen in reverse through the dissolution of the power of the Roman Catholic Church in England.
The authority given to city bishops over the other clergy was the first step in the creation of the Roman Pope, which ultimately affected the people’s freedom by diminishing the power of the sovereign. These “knots” were untied when the sovereign power of England officially rejected the power of the Pope.
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First, Queen Elizabeth severed the Pope’s power over England. The bishops, who once derived their power from the Pope, functioned under the authority of the Queen, which “untyed the first knot.” More recently, Hobbes says, the Presbyterians succeeded in the creation of Episcopacy, and this untied the second knot. Immediately afterward, this power was taken from the Presbyterians, and all that is left to follow are the “Primitive Christians,” which, Hobbes says, is probably best.
Prior to Queen Elizabeth’s severing of the Pope’s power, England’s bishops derived their power from the Pope. In the absence of the Pope’s power, that power went back to Elizabeth and the common-wealth, and the same bishops derived their power from Elizabeth. The second knot was untied when Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, created the Episcopacy and abandoned the Catholic Church.
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Following the religious doctrine of “Primitive Christians” is best because no power should be held over one’s conscience, except for the power of God. Furthermore, the doctrine of “Primitive Christians” is best because it is ridiculous to teach people the dangers of errors only to demand that the same people follow someone else’s reason and ignore their own God-given ability to do the same. True power can only be maintained through the same means it was attained—through “Wisdome, Humility, Clearnesse of Doctrine, and sincerity of Converstation.”
With the untying of the first and second knots, all that remains is the knot tied by the “Primitive Christians” of the Old Testament; however, Hobbes argues that this is how it should be. “Primitive Christians” of the Old Testament worshiped God for the right reasons—among them wisdom and humility—and Hobbes contends this is the best place to start to keep Christian doctrine out of the darkness.
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Power cannot be maintained by suppression of science and reason, nor can it be maintained by obscure language or holy frauds. From the time the Bishop in Rome declared himself supreme “by pretence of Succession to St. Peter,” the entire “Kingdome of Darknesse” can be rightly compared to a “Kingdome of Fairies,” like those found in English myths and old wives’ tales. In this vein, the Pope is little more than the “Ghost of the deceased Roman Empire,” as the Papacy was born “out of the Ruines of that Heathen Power.”
Hobbes implies that the power of the Roman Catholic Church cannot be continued through the suppression of truth (like that expressed by Galileo), nor through the false power of the Pope. According to Hobbes, the Pope did not succeed from the same line as St. Peter, and the Pope’s power is therefore illegitimate. The Pope’s power comes from the “Heathen” beliefs of Gentiles, not the Word of God.
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The Catholic Church uses Latin, a language that is not used by any other nation on Earth. And what is Latin, Hobbes asks, “but the Ghost of the Old Romane Language?” Another resemblance of the Papacy to the “Kingdome of Fairies” is that fairies, like Popes, only exist “in the Fancies of ignorant people.” Thus, it was not difficult for Henry VIII or Queen Elizabeth to be cast out by the Pope. However, Hobbes warns, “this Spirit of Rome” is still present England, since it is not only the Roman Church that believes God’s Kingdome is the Church. As long as this belief endures, it continues at the expense of the civil common-wealth.
Again, Hobbes implies that the Roman Catholic Church is rooted in the beliefs of Gentiles, not the Word of God. Hobbes’s proof is the Church’s use of a Roman language and its resemblance to fairytales rather than Holy Scripture. Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth were both excommunicated by the Pope, but since neither one of them recognized the power of the Pope in the first place, their excommunication was not difficult. However, as Protestants also believe the Christian Church is God’s Kingdome on Earth, earthly sovereigns and common-wealths will still be robbed of power as Christians will likely always believe God should be obeyed before their sovereign power.
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