A Brief Discussion of the Basic Spirit of Hobbes’s Religious Theology

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) was an English materialist philosopher, political thinker, and one of the famous representatives of the classical school of natural law. The era in which he lived was often mired in extreme religious chaos. Situated in the environment of intense religious conflict in England and Europe, Hobbes attached great importance to the topic of religious theology. In his famous work *Leviathan*, nearly half the length is devoted to discussing religious issues, namely Parts III and IV of *Leviathan*, and there are more than 700 direct quotations from the Bible. From this it can be seen that religious theological thought occupies a very important position in Hobbes’s vast theoretical system. Hobbes thereby established and constructed his own system of religious theological thought. On the one hand, as an outstanding thinker, in his struggle against religious theology, he not only exposed the falsity of religious concepts but also resolved to shake and overthrow the theological theoretical system that constituted the religious worldview. On the other hand, he made some reasonable and valuable expositions on the isomorphic unity of religious theology and politics, the rational construction of theology and social order, and the internal logic of religious theology and philosophy.

I. Exposure and Critique of the Essence of Religious Theology

Hobbes lived in a period of drastic economic and political upheaval in England. His main activities and the period of theoretical formation coincided with the climax of the English bourgeois revolution; he witnessed the victory of the revolution and the restoration of the feudal dynasty. Moreover, in this era, the rapid advances in European natural sciences, such as astronomy, geography, mathematics, and especially physiology, had an extremely significant influence on the formation and development of Hobbes’s anti-religious theological thought. Proceeding from the principles of materialism, Hobbes launched a critique against the theological ideas propagated by religious theology, such as the existence of spiritual entities like God, angels, and the soul. He considered these to be contrary to human natural reason; the fact that people have ideas in their minds about God, angels, and the like, and believe in their existence, stems entirely from ignorance of nature. He said: “Some people who rarely or never study the natural causes of things tend to imagine and fabricate various invisible forces, creating all kinds of gods. And the ruling class, by ‘carefully cultivating and adorning’ the natural seeds of religion, are sufficient to rule others.” From this we can see that Hobbes, to a certain extent, revealed the epistemological and social roots of the emergence of religious theology, reaching an atheistic conclusion.

In Europe under the shackles of medieval theology, Christian theology, which aimed to demonstrate God and religious doctrine, had long been cloaked in the guise of pseudoscience and, moreover, forced other sciences to serve it. Through the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment, people’s thinking achieved tremendous liberation, and they began to struggle against Christian theology, but this struggle was highly incomplete. Hobbes directed the fire of his critique at the highest institution of Christianity—the Roman Curia. He believed that treating the earthly church as the Kingdom of God was the most sinister intention of the Roman Curia, entirely a result of abusing the Bible, the most absurd dogma, and also the source of all spiritual darkness. Additionally, he used rationalist principles to reinterpret the Bible. In his representative work *Leviathan*, Hobbes meticulously sketched the picture of the Christian kingdom, offering rational explanations for a series of issues such as the soul, prophets, miracles, and the afterlife. For example, Hobbes gave a materialist explanation of “spirit” and “body,” and also cited the usage of “Holy Spirit” in the Bible to argue for their consistency. Hobbes believed that “body” and “substance” are merely different names for the same thing; all substances have bodies. Hobbes’s definition of “spirit” (Holy Spirit) is: “In common language it refers either to a thin, invisible, fluid body,”[1]1 Hobbes, *Leviathan*, Part III, Chapter 34. just like air. Thus spirit is another kind of “substantial substance.” Regarding the issue of “miracles,” he said: “Concerning this, each of us cannot judge using our own reason and conscience, but must use public reason, that is, the reason of God’s supreme agent.”[2]2 Hobbes, *Leviathan*, Part III, Chapter 37. In this way, Hobbes took back the power to interpret the most seductive issue of miracles from the hands of the church and placed it in the hands of the sovereign. Therefore, whether something should be recognized as a miracle rests with the sovereign of public reason.

In summary, we can see that Hobbes used rationalist principles to provide a new interpretation of religious theology and launched a merciless critique of Christianity. Under the social conditions of the time, this undoubtedly played a huge role in ideological liberation, freeing people’s thinking from Christian theology.

II. Philosophical Thought Based on Opposition to Religious Theology

In medieval and modern Europe, the contradiction between reason and faith, and between philosophy and theology, was always the principal contradiction in the ideological sphere. Under the dictatorship of Christian spirit in the Middle Ages, faith was above reason, and philosophy was the handmaiden of theology. Regarding philosophy, Hobbes believed that “philosophy excludes history, both political history and natural history,[3]3 Hobbes, *Leviathan*, Part I, Chapter 9. although history is most useful (indeed necessary) for philosophy; for this knowledge is merely experience or authority, not reasoning. Philosophy excludes all knowledge obtained through divine inspiration or revelation, and excludes all knowledge that is not guided to us by reason but is obtained in an instant through divine grace, or, so to speak, through some supernatural sense.”[4]4 Hobbes, *Leviathan*, Part I, Chapter 9. From Hobbes’s viewpoint, we can see that he regarded philosophy as a comprehensive scientific system encompassing everything; the purpose or goal of philosophy is to seek benefits for humanity. He particularly valued causal relationships and their characteristics. The world that philosophy confronts, whether the natural world or the world of humans and nature, is constituted by causal relationships; there is nothing without a cause, nor anything that can only be known through eternal ultimate ends or faith. We can conclude that Hobbes’s view of philosophy excludes theology. The proposition “philosophy excludes theology” is the most distinct hallmark and basic principle of Hobbes’s atheistic system. Hobbes said: philosophy excludes theology, by which I mean the doctrine of the eternal, ungenerated, incomprehensible God; philosophy excludes the doctrine of angels; philosophy excludes all knowledge obtained through divine inspiration or revelation; philosophy excludes astrology and all such divination; philosophy also excludes the doctrine of worship.[5]5 Hobbes, *Leviathan*, Part I, Chapter 9.

However, Hobbes’s philosophical thought also has its own shortcomings, even obvious loopholes. These are related to his use of bourgeois human nature theory rather than a scientific historical materialist outlook to view problems, to his own theoretical construction, and to the era and interest class to which he himself belonged. In terms of human nature theory, he universalized the ugly human nature of harming others for self-interest and insatiable greed, thereby simplifying the inherently complex nature of humanity; in epistemology, he clearly affirmed that all human knowledge originates from sensory experience, but he also separated the organic connections of the cognitive process; in his most esteemed thought on causality, he also denied the objectivity of the content of knowledge, thus falling into his own logical confusion. All these stem from his mechanical materialism, which is inherently difficult for him to overcome. The tendency toward mechanism is the most prominent feature of Hobbes’s philosophy, reflected in all his philosophical thought.

Overall, the proposal of Hobbes’s materialist philosophical thought marked a major step forward in the struggle of materialism against idealism and religious theology in Western Europe, especially in England. Proceeding from empiricism, Hobbes examined issues of human society without recourse to God; his atheism and opposition to the divine right of kings contained materialist elements and had great progressive significance in opposing the traditional religious theological worldview. However, we see that Hobbes’s philosophical system discarded the factor of dialectics and bore an obvious mechanical character. He used the viewpoint of mechanical motion to view everything that occurs in the objective material world, which led to the denial of qualitative change and development in things, exerting a certain negative effect on the subsequent development of European philosophy.

III. The Homologous Unity of Religious Theology and Politics

Hobbes’s political doctrine set aside the traditional Western political mode of thought and truly established political science on the foundation of modern natural empirical science, possessing clear pioneering significance, which was also subsequently employed, inherited, and developed by later political thinkers. In *Leviathan*, Hobbes initially revealed the homologous relationship between politics and religion in essence. Why is it said that religion and politics have a homologous relationship? Because both take “fear as their foundational theory, the former being fear of some unknowable power, the latter being fear of the sovereign’s absolute power” [6]. Furthermore, both religion and politics are a form of submission to power (or force). The recognition of this homologous relationship between politics and religion is an important starting point for understanding Hobbes’s entire religious thought. When constructing his theory of the state, Hobbes held that government is not created according to the will of God, but through contract; sovereign power is not divinely ordained, but transferred and entrusted by the people. This clearly stripped away the mystical religious cloak from state power. However, his principles of political thought did not completely break away from theological modes of argumentation. Influenced by the objective circumstances of the time, like other previous political thinkers, he used religious theology as a basis to argue for his doctrine, thus being intermingled with theological ideas. This indicates that Hobbes’s thought still bore the limitations of his era. Yet, what distinguished Hobbes was that he discerned the political nature of religion. He believed that, based on the homologous relationship between politics and religion, religion is necessarily political, and must be cultivated, utilized, and served by politics. Becoming a part of politics, it is a convenient tool for the ruling class to enslave the people and an important spiritual pillar for maintaining its rule. In other words, religion is not merely a matter of spirituality and faith, but also a political task, a politicized religious system. We note that Hobbes had his own reasonable explanation for the origin of religion, and he also comprehensively understood religion from a political perspective in the face of actual religion.

III. The Homologous Unity of Religious Theology and Politics

It should be said that religious theology occupied a certain position in Hobbes’s political thought. He used theological ideas as a basis to argue for his doctrine, and it was he alone who liberated political science from the entanglement of religion, making a decisive contribution to the secularization of political theory. Based on the theory of human nature, through rigorous argumentation using a series of terms such as the state of nature, natural law, and social contract, he formed his systematic theory of the state and sovereignty. At the same time, he reinterpreted religious theology in a rationalist manner, using empirical science as his theoretical foundation to establish a political theory independent of society, playing an epoch-making role in the development of Western political thought.

IV. The Rational Construction of Religious Theology and Social Order

Reason was the most fundamental idea of the Enlightenment era. In this era, thinkers used reason as a weapon, dispelling ignorance with knowledge, confronting divinity with humanity, opposing divine right with human rights, in order to establish a rational society and cultivate rational individuals. Hobbes regarded the state and the social order it represents as the result of human beings’ prudent deliberation and use of rational capacity to design, thereby negating the theory of the divine-right state. He said: “Man has a capacity superior to other animals, which is that when he imagines anything, he often inquires into its consequences,” and that humans can “through words turn the results they have discovered into general rules or maxims called theorems or principles” [7]. These theorems or principles are clearly what Hobbes called reason, but they did not arise naturally; they were established through opposing divine right.

Hobbes fully elaborated on reason in his philosophy, mainly in the following points: First, reason is a capacity unique to humans, and everyone possesses an equal capacity for reason. Throughout the long European Middle Ages, religious theology, in which God and cosmic spirits dominated everything, occupied a ruling position, fundamentally negating human creative ability. Hobbes advocated unleashing people’s initiative and creativity; moreover, he regarded individuals as equal rational beings, negating the feudal hierarchical concepts sheltered by divine right. Second, reason is the inquiry into the causes of things; the state of nature is the cause of the existing state. When exploring the causes of the state’s emergence, Hobbes excluded factors such as heavenly mandate, divine will, and history, taking a state of nature that, though hypothetical, was self-evident as the cause of the existing state and society. He firmly believed that starting from the state of nature, one could understand all the processes of forming the state and social order. The understanding of this cause, the state of nature, enables people to better arrange the present and concern themselves with the future in the most advantageous way. Finally, reason, as a capacity for weighing and choosing, is the foundation and driving force for constructing social order. Hobbes believed that the first content of the rational capacity to construct social order is that reason discovers the possible path to escape the state of nature, namely, natural law as “precepts” or “general rules” [8]. Natural law binds the human mind; it is a primary behavioral norm, a moral principle to be followed when the state formulates laws. The second content is that reason inspires people to enter into contracts, allowing an individual or collective to possess absolute authority to manage society and ensure order. The state, authorized through contract, organizes everyone’s will with its authority, applying the power and means granted to it in a manner conducive to everyone’s peace and common defense. The third content is reason’s optimistic attitude toward its own capacity for choice. Hobbes believed that this capacity for choice is mainly manifested in two aspects: first, it is manifested in reason’s discovery of the necessary path to escape the state of nature—the contract; second, it is manifested in people’s ability to rationally choose the authoritative “person” or monarch to whom all their rights will be granted.

In summary, Hobbes’s conception of a rational social order was established under the guarantee of absolute authority. The divinity that originally shrouded the state was dispelled, and the state became an institution designed by rational people using rational methods. He derived the natural laws of the state from reason and experience rather than from theology, negating the decisive role of God in social order, which has great historical progressive significance. However, we must also recognize the limitations of reason and not blindly believe in its capacity. Social development is not a purely natural process; the construction of social order is closely linked to social traditions, customs, culture, and so on.

In conclusion, as a great thinker, Hobbes’s thought spanned multiple fields including political science, philosophy, and anti-religious theology, representing the highest theoretical achievements of his era. In opposing religious theology, he exposed its essence and launched a fierce critique, greatly liberating people’s thought. His philosophical thought, based on opposing religious theology, initiated a new philosophical revolution. These laid an important theoretical foundation for later thinkers to enrich and develop his thought from various aspects.

Notes:

[6] [English] Hobbes, Thomas, *Leviathan*, translated by Li Sifu et al., Commercial Press, 1985 edition, pp. 270, 309.

[7] Ibid., pp. 306, 354.

③ Compiled and translated by the Teaching and Research Office of the History of Foreign Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Peking University: *Selected Readings from Western Philosophical Works* (Volume 1) [M], Commercial Press, 1982 edition, p. 386.

④ Ibid.

⑤ Ibid.

⑥ Sun Xiangchen: “On the Tension between Theology and Politics in Leviathan” [J], *Journal of Fudan University* (Social Science Edition), 2005, Issue 3.

⑦ [UK] Thomas Hobbes, translated by Li Sifu et al.: *Leviathan* [M], Commercial Press, 1985 edition, p. 30.

⑧ Li Qingjun: “Hobbes: Reason and Social Order” [J], *Jianghai Academic Journal*, 2004, Issue 6.