Leviathan · Chapter
Of Spiritual Darkness, from Misinterpretation of Scripture explained
Hobbes argues that the kingdom of darkness is a confederacy of deceivers who use erroneous doctrines to extinguish the light of nature and the Gospel.
What happens
Hobbes argues that the kingdom of darkness is a confederacy of deceivers who use erroneous doctrines to extinguish the light of nature and the Gospel. He identifies four main sources of spiritual error: abuse of Scripture, heathen demonology, Greek philosophy (especially Aristotle), and false traditions. The greatest abuse is interpreting the kingdom of God as the present Church, which leads to claims of papal supremacy, clerical exemptions, double taxation, and the confusion of civil and canon law. He also condemns the turning of consecration into conjuration or enchantment.
Themes in this chapter
Religion and Civil Authority
Hobbes argues that the misinterpretation of Scripture to claim the Church as Christ's kingdom undermines civil sovereignty and leads to conflict.
Sovereignty and Absolute Power
The chapter critiques the Pope's claim to be Christ's vicar, which challenges the absolute authority of civil sovereigns.
Human Nature and Passions
Hobbes attributes spiritual darkness to human ignorance and the passions of ambition and deceit, leading to error and conflict.
Characters to notice
- Moses
The kingdom of God was first instituted by the ministry of Moses over the Jews only.
- Saul
The kingdom of God ceased with the election of Saul when the Jews demanded a king.
- Pope Innocent III
Cited for the doctrine of the Fourth Council of Lateran that subjects may be absolved of obedience to a king who does not purge heresies.
- Aristotle
Mentioned as a source of vain and erroneous philosophy mixed with Scripture.
- Levi
The tribe of Levi was assigned God's revenue and had no land inheritance, used to justify clerical claims to tithes.
- Jesus Christ
The kingdom of God is not yet come; Christ's second coming is awaited, and Christians are in the kingdom of grace by promise.
Key passages
“the kingdom of darkness, as it is set forth in these and other places of the Scripture, is nothing else but a 'confederacy of deceivers, that to obtain dominion over men in this present world endeavour by dark and erroneous doctrines to extinguish in them the light both of Nature and of the Gospel, and so to disprepare them for the kingdom of God to come.'”
The kingdom of darkness is a conspiracy of deceivers who use false teachings to blind people to natural reason and the Gospel, making them unfit for God's future kingdom.
Hobbes defines the kingdom of darkness as a deliberate deception aimed at gaining power over people.
“The greatest and main abuse of Scripture, and to which almost all the rest are either consequent or subservient, is the wresting of it, to prove that the kingdom of God, mentioned so often in the Scripture, is the present Church, or multitude of Christian men now living, or that being dead, are to rise again at the last day.”
The primary misuse of Scripture is twisting it to claim that the kingdom of God is the current Church or the resurrected faithful, rather than a future reality.
Hobbes identifies the misinterpretation of the kingdom of God as the root of many ecclesiastical errors.
“Consequent to this error, that the present Church is Christ's kingdom, there ought to be some one man, or assembly, by whose mouth our Saviour, now in heaven, speaketh, giveth law, and which representeth His person to all Christians.”
From the mistaken belief that the Church is Christ's kingdom, it follows that there must be a single person or group that speaks for Christ and gives laws to all Christians.
Hobbes argues that this error leads to the claim of papal or conciliar authority over all Christians.
