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Fancy
Hobbes defines a Gentile as someone from ancient Greek or Roman society, in which numerous gods, demigods, and deities were worshipped. The Gentiles did not, for the most part, know of the natural causes of things, so they attributed everything to gods and religion. When the Gentiles were converted to Christianity, quoting Holy Scripture was no use, since they did not believe in God; thus, Christ’s Apostles used natural reason to refute the Gentile’s idolatry. According to Hobbes, there are many relics of the Gentiles that remain within the Christian Church, such as the belief in ghosts and other spirits of the dead. Additional relics include the worshipping of false images and idols, the canonizing of saints, and the belief that the Catholic Pope is the absolute sovereign power over all of Christendom. Hobbes offers his own philosophy in Leviathan to counter the civil and moral doctrine of the Gentiles.
Gentile Quotes in Leviathan
The Leviathan quotes below are all either spoken by Gentile or refer to Gentile. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2
Quotes
From this ignorance of how to distinguish Dreams, and other strong Fancies, from Vision and Sense, did arise the greatest part of the Religion of the Gentiles in time past, that worshipped Satyres, Fawnes, Nymphs, and the like; and now adayes the opinion that rude people have Fayries, Ghosts, and Goblins; […] And for Fayries, and walking Ghosts, the opinion of them has I think been on purpose, either taught, or not confuted, to keep in credit the use of Exorcisme, of Crosses, of holy Water, and other such inventions of Ghostly men.
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Chapter 5
Quotes
But this priviledge, is allayed by another; and that is, by the priviledge of Absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man onely. And of men, those are of all most subject to it, that professe Philosophy. For it is most true that Cicero sayth of them somewhere; that there can be nothing so absurd, but may be found in the books of Philosophers. And the reason is manifest. For there is not one of them that begins his ratiocination from the Definitions, or Explications of the names they are to use; which is a method that hath been used onely in Geometry; whose Conclusions have thereby been made indisputable.
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Gentile Term Timeline in Leviathan
The timeline below shows where the term Gentile appears in Leviathan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 12: Of Religion
...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;...
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The Gentiles of long ago attributed everything to gods and religion. Fertility was because of Venus, the...
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Gentiles took earthquakes, meteors, and eclipses to foretell great disaster, which again illustrates how easily people...
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Chapter 42: Of POWER ECCLESIASTICALL
When attempting to convert Gentiles, quoting Holy Scripture was no use, as they did not believe in Christ. Thus, the...
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Chapter 45: Of DÆMONOLOGY, and other Reliques of the Religion of the Gentiles
...the Old Testament or by Christ in the New Testament as another relic of the Gentiles. St. Paul says, “Wee know that an Idol is Nothing,” but Gentiles are fond of...
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...and presented it to the people without God or Moses’s authority, this, too, was idolatry. Gentiles throughout history have worshiped Jupiter and others as gods, which is also idolatry since such...
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...as a Saint after their death. The Canonizing of Saints, which is another relic of Gentiles, has been practiced since Rome was an ancient common-wealth. Another practice of the “Roman Heathen”...
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A REVIEW, and CONCLUSION
...should be taught in all universities to counter the civil and moral doctrine of the Gentiles.
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