Leviathan

Leviathan

by

Thomas Hobbes

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Leviathan: Chapter 33 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Books of Holy Scripture include those that contain “Rules of Christian life,” and since these rules are also laws, it is necessary to determine which laws must be followed in a common-wealth. Scripture does not determine which laws a Christian ruler must follow, but scripture does indicate those laws that should not be followed. God is the “Soveraign [Sovereign] of all Soveraigns” and therefore should be obeyed; however, a subject must also know when and what God commanded, which cannot be known without “supernaturall revelation.” Thus, Hobbes acknowledges only the Old Testament as Holy Scripture, as it has been acknowledged as such by the Church of England.   
In saying that he only acknowledges the Old Testament as Holy Scripture, Hobbes suggests that the New Testament is not the official Word of God. As so much time has passed since biblical times, no one can say with any certainty what exactly happened, unless the Holy Scripture is verified as coming from God. As the Church of England verifies the Old Testament as such, it has more authority, according to Hobbes.
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The original writers of many books of Holy Scripture are not sufficiently known. The Pentateuch (the first five books of the bible) were supposedly written by Moses, but Hobbes disagrees. In chapter six of Deuteronomy, it is noted “that no man knoweth of [Moses’s] sepulcher to this day,” which indicates the day in which the words were written were not Moses’s. Thus, Moses was not alive at the time and could not be the author of the words.   
For Hobbes, many books of Holy Scripture are lacking authority. Hobbes implies that anyone could have written the Old Testament, and exactly who wrote it can never be known for certain. In such circumstances, one must find authority within the scripture itself, which Hobbes spends most of this chapter doing.
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The Book of Joshua, too, was written after Joshua’s time. The Book of Joshua speaks of the 12 stones Joshua set in Jordan and says, “They are there unto this day,” which suggests considerable time has passed between Joshua’s placing of the stones and the writing of the Book of Joshua. Similarly, the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth were written after their time, as were the Books of Samuel, which claim Samuel made an edict to Israel “to this day.” These words again imply that the words were written long after Samuel’s time.  
According to Hobbes, since the authorship of the Bible can never be known, its authority will always be in question and should be approached with caution. One must use their reason to find authority within Holy Scripture and find proof of God’s existence instead of taking someone’s word for it. 
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Those who wrote the New Testament lived in the age of Christ, and each of them knew Christ and served as his disciple, except for St. Paul and St. Luke. The Books of the New Testament, however, were acknowledged by the Church long after the time of the Apostles. The Old Testament, on the other hand, comes from no later than the time of Esdras, who retrieved lost scripture under God’s direction. When the New Testament was collected and approved by the Church, there could not have been any real way of definitively knowing who each book was written by.
While Hobbes disputes the authorship of the Old Testament, he emphasizes that it is thought to have been written during the correct time period, which is more than can be said for the New Testament. The New Testament was compiled hundreds of years after Christ. St. Paul, who is thought to be the author of the Epistles, lived some 50 years after Christ.
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Even though the books of Holy Scripture were written by different people at different times, they are still thought to be imbued with the “same Spirit” and work to the same end: to set forth the laws of God. The question of where Holy Scripture gets its authority is much disputed by different branches of Christianity, but since scripture does not differ all that much from the Laws of Nature, it is considered the law of God and carries his authority. 
The Bible generally preaches the same things required by the Laws of Nature: equality, morality, and humility. Thus, both the Bible and the Laws of Nature carry the same authority because they are both imbued with the “same Spirit” of God.
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