← All chapters

Leviathan · Chapter

XXXVII: Of Miracles, and Their Use explained

Hobbes defines miracles as works done by the immediate hand of God, not by any virtue of the prophet or created spirit.

What happens

Hobbes defines miracles as works done by the immediate hand of God, not by any virtue of the prophet or created spirit. He argues that apparent miracles performed by enchantment or magic are actually impostures and delusions exploiting human ignorance. He cautions against hasty belief in pretended miracles and insists that the sovereign (God's lieutenant) must be the judge of what constitutes a true miracle, especially in matters of public confession.

Themes in this chapter

  • Religion and Civil Authority

    Hobbes argues that the sovereign (God's lieutenant) must be the ultimate judge of miracles, subordinating religious claims to civil authority.

  • Human Nature and Passions

    The chapter emphasizes human ignorance, superstition, and credulity as the basis for belief in false miracles.

Characters to notice

  • Moses

    Cited as God's lieutenant who established doctrine and performed miracles; his rod turned into a serpent and he turned waters into blood.

  • Aaron

    Mentioned as successor to Moses in the role of God's lieutenant.

Key passages

  • “For it is evident enough that words have no effect but on those that understand them; and then they have no other but to signify the intentions or passions of them that speak; and thereby produce hope, fear, or other passions or conceptions in the hearer.”

    Words only affect people who understand them, and their only power is to convey the speaker's intentions or emotions, which in turn stir hope, fear, or other feelings in the listener.

    Hobbes reduces the supposed power of enchantment to mere psychological manipulation.

  • “A private man has always the liberty, because thought is free, to believe or not believe in his heart those acts that have been given out for miracles, according as he shall see what benefit can accrue by men's belief, to those that pretend or countenance them, and thereby conjecture whether they be miracles or lies.”

    An individual is free to privately judge whether reported miracles are genuine by considering who benefits from belief in them, but when it comes to public confession, private judgment must yield to the sovereign's authority.

    Hobbes distinguishes between private belief and public submission to civil authority regarding miracles.

Read this chapter freeBook page
Leviathan — XXXVII: Of Miracles, and Their Use Explained