Theological Origins of Modernity

hobbes’ fearful wisdom 253
of the indulgences that so infuriated Luther. In denouncing these beliefs
Hobbes was thus in the mainstream of the Reformation.
Hobbes seeks to further reduce the infl uence that clerics derive from the
fear of judgment by clarifying what is to occur on the basis of Scripture.
Christ at his return will establish an actual kingdom and rule directly over
humans. Hobbes ties this interpretation of the coming kingdom to the resurrection
and immortality of the body promised in Scripture and articulated
in the Creed. Everyone in his view will be resurrected in the body,
some few will be chosen to live forever in the Kingdom of God, and the rest
will be condemned to a second death though not to the eternal tortures of
hell. Th ere are no unending tortures awaiting the damned. Hobbes thus
seeks to eliminate the terrors of eternal damnation. 158 Th e fear of the fi res
of hell in his view is used by many radical sects to turn men against the
state, and in eliminating it he hopes to strengthen the authority of the sovereign.
Th is argument is unusual but is not without scriptural support.
conclusion
In a time of relative peace in his native France, Descartes laid out the foundations
for a new science in his Discourse. In confronting the theologicalpolitical
problem, he simply asserted that he held it wrong to do anything
to upset the existing order. However, as he well knew, his science would
certainly bring about a transformation in the order of things. His contemporaries,
as we saw, were not deceived. His philosophical and theological
views were similar in many ways to those of the Arminians, and as a result
he was attacked by the dominant Calvinists in Holland and the dominant
Catholics in France. Hobbes too had to deal with the theological-political
problem, not however in a time of peace but in a time of brutal civil war.
In his case there was no regnant church and state to support. Hobbes too
had a vision of a science of motion, but he realized that this vision could
only be realized if political conditions were more stable. He thus had to
provide grounds for a political and religious order that would make science
possible. He sought to do so by spelling out an order justifi ed by both
natural law and Scripture, as revealed by both his science and his theology.
Th e picture of the commonwealth governed by a mighty Leviathan
resembled in many ways the institutions of Elizabethan England, but it
was rooted not in mere traditionalism but in reason and a limited form
of consent. Th eologically, Hobbes found it necessary to depart in two respects
from Anglican orthodoxy, but he was careful that even his devia-