Thomas Hobbes · Complete work
Part III, Chapter XLIII, 1
Part III, Chapter XLIII, 1 of 101. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
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OF WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR A MANS RECEPTION INTO THE KINGDOME OF HEAVEN
The most frequent praetext of Sedition, and Civill Warre, in Christian Common-wealths hath a long time proceeded from a difficulty, not yet sufficiently resolved, of obeying at once, both God, and Man, then when their Commandements are one contrary to the other. It is manifest enough, that when a man receiveth two contrary Commands, and knows that one of them is Gods, he ought to obey that, and not the other, though it be the command even of his lawfull Soveraign (whether a Monarch, or a Soveraign Assembly,) or the command of his Father. The difficulty therefore consisteth in this, that men when they are commanded in the name of God, know not in divers Cases, whether the command be from God, or whether he that commandeth, doe but abuse Gods name for some private ends of his own. For as there ware in the Church of the Jews, many false Prophets, that sought reputation with the people, by feigned Dreams, and Visions; so there have been in all times in the Church of Christ, false Teachers, that seek reputation with the people, by phantasticall and false Doctrines; and by such reputation (as is the nature of Ambition,) to govern them for their private benefit.
But this difficulty of obeying both God, and the Civill Soveraign on earth, to those that can distinguish between what is Necessary, and what is not Necessary for their Reception into the Kingdome of God, is of no moment. For if the command of the Civill Soveraign bee such, as that it may be obeyed, without the forfeiture of life Eternall; not to obey it is unjust; and the precept of the Apostle takes place; “Servants obey your Masters in all things;” and, “Children obey your Parents in all things;” and the precept of our Saviour, “The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses Chaire, All therefore they shall say, that observe, and doe.” But if the command be such, as cannot be obeyed, without being damned to Eternall Death, then it were madnesse to obey it, and the Counsell of our Saviour takes place, (Mat. 10. 28.) “Fear not those that kill the body, but cannot kill the soule.” All men therefore that would avoid, both the punishments that are to be in this world inflicted, for disobedience to their earthly Soveraign, and those that shall be inflicted in the world to come for disobedience to God, have need be taught to distinguish well between what is, and what is not Necessary to Eternall Salvation.
All that is NECESSARY to Salvation, is contained in two Vertues, Faith in Christ, and Obedience to Laws. The latter of these, if it were perfect, were enough to us. But because wee are all guilty of disobedience to Gods Law, not onely originally in Adam, but also actually by our own transgressions, there is required at our hands now, not onely Obedience for the rest of our time, but also a Remission of sins for the time past; which Remission is the reward of our Faith in Christ. That nothing else is Necessarily required to Salvation, is manifest from this, that the Kingdome of Heaven, is shut to none but to Sinners; that is to say, to the disobedient, or transgressors of the Law; nor to them, in case they Repent, and Beleeve all the Articles of Christian Faith, Necessary to Salvation.
The Obedience required at our hands by God, that accepteth in all our actions the Will for the Deed, is a serious Endeavour to Obey him; and is called also by all such names as signifie that Endeavour. And therefore Obedience, is sometimes called by the names of Charity, and Love, because they imply a Will to Obey; and our Saviour himself maketh our Love to God, and to one another, a Fulfilling of the whole Law: and sometimes by the name of Righteousnesse; for Righteousnesse is but the will to give to every one his owne, that is to say, the will to obey the Laws: and sometimes by the name of Repentance; because to Repent, implyeth a turning away from sinne, which is the same, with the return of the will to Obedience. Whosoever therefore unfeignedly desireth to fulfill the Commandements of God, or repenteth him truely of his transgressions, or that loveth God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself, hath all the Obedience Necessary to his Reception into the Kingdome of God: For if God should require perfect Innocence, there could no flesh be saved.
But what Commandements are those that God hath given us? Are all those Laws which were given to the Jews by the hand of Moses, the Commandements of God? If they bee, why are not Christians taught to obey them? If they be not, what others are so, besides the Law of Nature? For our Saviour Christ hath not given us new Laws, but Counsell to observe those wee are subject to; that is to say, the Laws of Nature, and the Laws of our severall Soveraigns: Nor did he make any new Law to the Jews in his Sermon on the Mount, but onely expounded the Laws of Moses, to which they were subject before. The Laws of God therefore are none but the Laws of Nature, whereof the principall is, that we should not violate our Faith, that is, a commandement to obey our Civill Soveraigns, which wee constituted over us, by mutuall pact one with another. And this Law of God, that commandeth Obedience to the Law Civill, commandeth by consequence Obedience to all the Precepts of the Bible, which (as I have proved in the precedent Chapter) is there onely Law, where the Civill Soveraign hath made it so; and in other places but Counsell; which a man at his own perill, may without injustice refuse to obey.
Knowing now what is the Obedience Necessary to Salvation, and to whom it is due; we are to consider next concerning Faith, whom, and why we beleeve; and what are the Articles, or Points necessarily to be beleeved by them that shall be saved. And first, for the Person whom we beleeve, because it is impossible to beleeve any Person, before we know what he saith, it is necessary he be one that wee have heard speak. The Person therefore, whom Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and the Prophets beleeved, was God himself, that spake unto them supernaturally: And the Person, whom the Apostles and Disciples that conversed with Christ beleeved, was our Saviour himself. But of them, to whom neither God the Father, nor our Saviour ever spake, it cannot be said, that the Person whom they beleeved, was God. They beleeved the Apostles, and after them the Pastors and Doctors of the Church, that recommended to their faith the History of the Old and New Testament: so that the Faith of Christians ever since our Saviours time, hath had for foundation, first, the reputation of their Pastors, and afterward, the authority of those that made the Old and New Testament to be received for the Rule of Faith; which none could do but Christian Soveraignes; who are therefore the Supreme Pastors, and the onely Persons, whom Christians now hear speak from God; except such as God speaketh to, in these days supernaturally. But because there be many false Prophets “gone out into the world,” other men are to examine such Spirits (as St. John advised us, 1 Epistle, Chap. 4. ver.1.) “whether they be of God, or not.” And therefore, seeing the Examination of Doctrines belongeth to the Supreme Pastor, the Person which all they that have no speciall revelation are to beleeve, is (in every Common-wealth) the Supreme Pastor, that is to say, the Civill Soveraigne.
The causes why men beleeve any Christian Doctrine, are various; For Faith is the gift of God; and he worketh it in each severall man, by such wayes, as it seemeth good unto himself. The most ordinary immediate cause of our beleef, concerning any point of Christian Faith, is, that wee beleeve the Bible to be the Word of God. But why wee beleeve the Bible to be the Word of God, is much disputed, as all questions must needs bee, that are not well stated. For they make not the question to be, “Why we Beleeve it,” but “How wee Know it;” as if Beleeving and Knowing were all one. And thence while one side ground their Knowledge upon the Infallibility of the Church, and the other side, on the Testimony of the Private Spirit, neither side concludeth what it pretends. For how shall a man know the Infallibility of the Church, but by knowing first the Infallibility of the Scripture? Or how shall a man know his own Private spirit to be other than a beleef, grounded upon the Authority, and Arguments of his Teachers; or upon a Presumption of his own Gifts? Besides, there is nothing in the Scripture, from which can be inferred the Infallibility of the Church; much lesse, of any particular Church; and least of all, the Infallibility of any particular man.
It is manifest, therefore, that Christian men doe not know, but onely beleeve the Scripture to be the Word of God; and that the means of making them beleeve which God is pleased to afford men ordinarily, is according to the way of Nature, that is to say, from their Teachers. It is the Doctrine of St. Paul concerning Christian Faith in generall, (Rom. 10.17.) “Faith cometh by Hearing,” that is, by Hearing our lawfull Pastors. He saith also (ver. 14,15. of the same Chapter) “How shall they beleeve in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a Preacher? and how shall they Preach, except they be sent?” Whereby it is evident, that the ordinary cause of beleeving that the Scriptures are the Word of God, is the same with the cause of the beleeving of all other Articles of our Faith, namely, the Hearing of those that are by the Law allowed and appointed to Teach us, as our Parents in their Houses, and our Pastors in the Churches: Which also is made more manifest by experience. For what other cause can there bee assigned, why in Christian Common-wealths all men either beleeve, or at least professe the Scripture to bee the Word of God, and in other Common-wealths scarce any; but that in Christian Common-wealths they are taught it from their infancy; and in other places they are taught otherwise?
But if Teaching be the cause of Faith, why doe not all beleeve? It is certain therefore that Faith is the gift of God, and hee giveth it to whom he will. Neverthelesse, because of them to whom he giveth it, he giveth it by the means of Teachers, the immediate cause of Faith is Hearing. In a School where many are taught, and some profit, others profit not, the cause of learning in them that profit, is the Master; yet it cannot be thence inferred, that learning is not the gift of God. All good things proceed from God; yet cannot all that have them, say they are Inspired; for that implies a gift supernaturall, and the immediate hand of God; which he that pretends to, pretends to be a Prophet, and is subject to the examination of the Church.
But whether men Know, or Beleeve, or Grant the Scriptures to be the Word of God; if out of such places of them, as are without obscurity, I shall shew what Articles of Faith are necessary, and onely necessary for Salvation, those men must needs Know, Beleeve, or Grant the same.
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the complete 1651 English text (introduction, forty-seven chapters, review and conclusion) for fidelity, the author’s force and cadence, and modern clarity. Hobbes’s marginal summaries are omitted.
OF WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR A PERSON’S RECEPTION INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
For a long time the most frequent pretext for sedition and civil war in Christian Commonwealths has arisen from a difficulty not yet sufficiently resolved: how to obey both God and man when their commands conflict. It is plain enough that when a person receives two contrary commands and knows that one is God’s, he ought to obey that one rather than the other, even if the other is the command of his lawful Sovereign (whether monarch or sovereign assembly), or of his father. The difficulty, then, is that when people are commanded in God’s name, they often do not know whether the command comes from God or whether the person commanding is merely abusing God’s name for private ends. For just as there were in the Jewish Church many false prophets who sought standing with the people through feigned dreams and visions, so at every time in the Church of Christ there have been false teachers who seek standing with the people through fantastic and false doctrines, and use that standing—as ambition naturally does—to govern them for private gain.
But for those able to distinguish what is and is not necessary for their reception into the Kingdom of God, this difficulty in obeying both God and the civil Sovereign on earth is of no consequence. If the civil Sovereign’s command can be obeyed without forfeiting eternal life, it is unjust to disobey it; and the apostle’s precepts apply: “Servants, obey your masters in all things,” and “Children, obey your parents in all things”; as does our Savior’s precept: “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ chair; therefore observe and do everything they tell you.” But if the command cannot be obeyed without incurring eternal death, then obeying it would be madness, and our Savior’s counsel applies (Mat. 10. 28.): “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Therefore everyone wishing to avoid both the punishments inflicted in this world for disobedience to an earthly Sovereign and those inflicted in the world to come for disobedience to God must learn to distinguish carefully what is and is not necessary to eternal salvation.
All that is NECESSARY to salvation is contained in two virtues: faith in Christ and obedience to laws. The latter would suffice for us if it were perfect. But since we are all guilty of disobedience to God’s law, not only originally in Adam but also through our own actual transgressions, what is required of us now is not merely obedience for the remainder of our lives but also remission of past sins; that remission is the reward of our faith in Christ. That nothing else is necessarily required for salvation is evident from this: the Kingdom of Heaven is closed to none but sinners—that is, the disobedient, the transgressors of the law—and not even to them if they repent and believe all the articles of Christian faith necessary to salvation.
The obedience God requires of us, accepting in all our actions the will for the deed, is an earnest endeavor to obey him; and it is also called by all the names that signify such endeavor. Thus obedience is sometimes called charity and love, since these imply a will to obey; and our Savior himself makes our love of God and of one another the fulfillment of the whole law. Sometimes it is called righteousness, for righteousness is simply the will to give everyone what is his own—that is, the will to obey the laws. And sometimes it is called repentance, because to repent implies turning away from sin, which is the same as the will’s return to obedience. Therefore whoever sincerely desires to fulfill God’s commandments, or truly repents of his transgressions, or loves God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself, has all the obedience necessary for reception into the Kingdom of God. For if God demanded perfect innocence, no living person could be saved.
But what commandments has God given us? Are all the laws given to the Jews through Moses commandments of God? If so, why are Christians not taught to obey them? If not, what commandments are there besides the law of nature? For our Savior Christ gave us no new laws, but counseled us to observe the laws to which we are subject—that is, the laws of nature and the laws of our respective Sovereigns. Nor did he make any new law for the Jews in his Sermon on the Mount; he only expounded the laws of Moses, to which they were already subject. Therefore the laws of God are nothing other than the laws of nature, chief among them the command not to break our word—that is, the command to obey the civil Sovereigns whom we have established over ourselves by mutual agreement with one another. And this law of God, commanding obedience to civil law, consequently commands obedience to all the precepts of the Bible, which (as I proved in the preceding chapter) is law only where the civil Sovereign has made it so; elsewhere it is counsel, which a person may refuse to obey without injustice, though at his own peril.
Having established what obedience is necessary to salvation, and to whom it is owed, we must next consider faith: whom we believe and why, and what articles or points must necessarily be believed by those who will be saved. First, as to the person we believe: since it is impossible to believe anyone before we know what he says, it must be someone we have heard speak. Thus the person Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets believed was God himself, who spoke to them supernaturally; and the person the apostles and disciples who associated with Christ believed was our Savior himself. But of those to whom neither God the Father nor our Savior ever spoke, it cannot be said that the person they believed was God. They believed the apostles, and after them the pastors and teachers of the Church, who commended the history of the Old and New Testaments to their faith. Thus Christians’ faith ever since our Savior’s time has rested first on the standing of their pastors, and afterward on the authority of those who caused the Old and New Testaments to be accepted as the rule of faith. None but Christian Sovereigns could do this; they are therefore the supreme pastors, and the only persons whom Christians now hear speak on God’s behalf, except for those to whom God speaks supernaturally in our own day. But since many false prophets have “gone out into the world,” others must test such spirits (as St. John advises us, 1 Epistle, Chap. 4. ver.1.) “whether they are of God or not.” And since the testing of doctrines belongs to the supreme pastor, the person whom all without special revelation must believe is, in every Commonwealth, the supreme pastor—that is, the civil Sovereign.
The reasons people believe a Christian doctrine vary. Faith is God’s gift, and he produces it in each person by whatever means he sees fit. The most usual immediate reason we believe any point of Christian faith is that we believe the Bible to be God’s word. But why we believe the Bible to be God’s word is much disputed, as all ill-posed questions are bound to be. For the question people ask is not “Why do we believe it?” but “How do we know it?”—as though believing and knowing were the same thing. Consequently, while one party grounds its knowledge on the infallibility of the Church and the other on the testimony of a private spirit, neither establishes what it claims. For how can anyone know that the Church is infallible without first knowing that Scripture is infallible? Or how can anyone know that his own private spirit is anything other than a belief founded on his teachers’ authority and arguments, or on an assumption about his own gifts? Besides, nothing in Scripture implies the infallibility of the Church, much less that of any particular church, and least of all that of any particular person.
It is clear, therefore, that Christians do not know but only believe that Scripture is God’s word, and that the means God ordinarily chooses to bring them to this belief follows the course of nature: they learn it from their teachers. St. Paul’s doctrine concerning Christian faith in general is (Rom. 10.17.), “Faith comes by hearing”—that is, by hearing our lawful pastors. He also says (ver. 14,15. of the same Chapter), “How shall they believe in one of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” Evidently, then, the ordinary cause of believing that the Scriptures are God’s word is the same as the cause of believing all the other articles of our faith: hearing those whom the law permits and appoints to teach us, such as our parents in their homes and our pastors in the churches. Experience makes this clearer still. Why else would nearly everyone in Christian Commonwealths believe, or at least profess, that Scripture is God’s word, while hardly anyone in other Commonwealths does, except that people in Christian Commonwealths are taught so from infancy, and elsewhere are taught otherwise?
But if teaching causes faith, why does not everyone believe? Faith is surely God’s gift, and he gives it to whomever he wills. Nevertheless, because he gives it to its recipients through teachers, hearing is the immediate cause of faith. In a school where many are taught but some progress and others do not, the teacher is the cause of learning in those who progress; yet one cannot conclude from this that learning is not God’s gift. All good things come from God, but not all who possess them can say they are inspired: inspiration implies a supernatural gift and God’s immediate hand. Whoever claims it claims to be a prophet, and is subject to examination by the Church.
But whether people know, believe, or grant that the Scriptures are God’s word, if I show from their unambiguous passages which articles of faith are necessary, and alone necessary, for salvation, those people must likewise know, believe, or grant the same conclusion.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the complete 1651 English text (introduction, forty-seven chapters, review and conclusion). Hobbes’s marginal summaries are omitted.
WHAT A PERSON NEEDS TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
For a long time, the most common pretext for rebellion and civil war in Christian Common-wealths has come from a problem that has not yet been adequately resolved: how to obey both God and a human ruler when their commands conflict. Clearly, if someone receives two conflicting commands and knows that one comes from God, he must obey that one, not the other. This remains true even if the other command comes from his lawful Sovereign, whether a monarch or a sovereign assembly, or from his father. The difficulty is that when someone gives an order in God's name, people often cannot tell whether the order comes from God or whether the person giving it is misusing God's name for private purposes. In the Jewish Church there were many false prophets who sought standing with the people by pretending to have dreams and visions. Likewise, in the Church of Christ there have always been false teachers who seek standing with the people through fanciful and false doctrines. Once they have won that standing, ambition leads them to use it to control people for their own benefit.
But this difficulty of obeying both God and the civil Sovereign on earth presents no problem for people who can tell what is necessary for entry into the Kingdom of God and what is not. If a civil Sovereign's order can be obeyed without losing eternal life, disobeying it is unjust. Then the apostle's commands apply: “Servants, obey your masters in all things,” and “Children, obey your parents in all things.” So does our Savior's instruction: “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' chair. Therefore observe and do everything they tell you.” But if obeying an order would bring eternal damnation, it would be madness to obey it. Then our Savior's advice applies (Mat. 10. 28.): “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Anyone who wants to avoid both punishment in this world for disobeying an earthly Sovereign and punishment in the next for disobeying God must learn to distinguish what is necessary for eternal salvation from what is not.
Everything necessary for salvation falls under two virtues: faith in Christ and obedience to laws. Perfect obedience alone would be enough for us. But all of us have disobeyed God's law, both originally through Adam and personally through our own offenses. We therefore need more than obedience for the rest of our lives. We also need forgiveness for past sins, and that forgiveness is the reward for faith in Christ. Nothing else is strictly necessary for salvation. This is clear because the Kingdom of Heaven is closed only to sinners—that is, people who disobey or break the law. It is not even closed to them if they repent and believe all the articles of Christian faith necessary for salvation.
God accepts the will behind our actions as if we had performed them. The obedience he asks of us is therefore a serious effort to obey him, and it is also called by other names that mean this effort. Sometimes it is called charity or love, because both involve a willingness to obey. Our Savior himself says that loving God and loving one another fulfills the whole law. Sometimes it is called righteousness, because righteousness is the will to give everyone what is theirs—in other words, the will to obey the laws. Sometimes it is called repentance, because to repent is to turn away from sin and return to a willingness to obey. So anyone who sincerely wants to keep God's commandments, truly repents of breaking them, or loves God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself has all the obedience needed to enter the Kingdom of God. If God demanded perfect innocence, no one could be saved.
But which commandments has God given us? Are all the laws given to the Jews through Moses God's commandments? If so, why aren't Christians taught to obey them? If not, what other commandments are there besides the Law of Nature? Our Savior Christ gave us no new laws. He advised us to obey the laws we are subject to: the Laws of Nature and the laws of our respective Sovereigns. Nor did he make any new law for the Jews in the Sermon on the Mount. He only explained the laws of Moses, to which they were already subject. God's laws, then, are only the Laws of Nature. The chief one is that we must not break our word. This means obeying the civil Sovereigns whom we established over ourselves by mutual agreement. This law of God, which commands obedience to civil law, therefore also commands obedience to every rule in the Bible wherever the civil Sovereign has made the Bible law, as I proved in the preceding chapter. Elsewhere those rules are only advice, which someone may refuse without injustice, though at his own risk.
Now we know what obedience is needed for salvation and to whom it is owed. Next we must consider faith: whom we believe, why we believe, and which articles or points those who will be saved must believe. First, we cannot believe a person without knowing what he says, so the person we believe must be someone we have heard speak. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets believed God himself, who spoke to them supernaturally. The apostles and disciples who spent time with Christ believed our Savior himself. But we cannot say that people to whom neither God the Father nor our Savior has ever spoken believe God as the person speaking to them. They believed the apostles, and later the pastors and teachers of the Church, who commended the history of the Old and New Testaments to their faith. Thus, since our Savior's time, Christian faith has rested first on the reputation of pastors and then on the authority of those who made the Old and New Testaments the accepted rule of faith. Only Christian Sovereigns could do that. They are therefore the supreme pastors and the only people whom Christians today hear speak on God's behalf, apart from anyone to whom God now speaks supernaturally. But because many false prophets have “gone out into the world,” other people must test such spirits, as St. John advises (1 Epistle, Chap. 4. ver.1.), “whether they are of God or not.” And since testing doctrines belongs to the supreme pastor, the person whom everyone without a special revelation must believe in each Common-wealth is its supreme pastor, the civil Sovereign.
People have different reasons for believing a Christian doctrine. Faith is God's gift, and he creates it in each person by whatever means he thinks best. The most usual immediate reason we believe a point of Christian faith is that we believe the Bible is the Word of God. But why we believe the Bible is the Word of God is fiercely disputed, as happens with every question that has not been clearly stated. People ask not “Why do we believe it?” but “How do we know it?” as if belief and knowledge were the same. One side bases its claim to knowledge on the Church's infallibility; the other bases it on the testimony of a private spirit. Neither proves what it claims. How can someone know the Church is infallible without first knowing that Scripture is infallible? And how can someone know his own private spirit is anything other than belief based on his teachers' authority and arguments, or an exaggerated opinion of his own gifts? Besides, nothing in Scripture implies that the Church is infallible, much less that any particular church is, and least of all that any particular person is.
Christians, then, plainly do not know that Scripture is the Word of God; they believe it. The ordinary way God provides to bring them to believe it works through natural means: their teachers. St. Paul says of Christian faith in general (Rom. 10.17.), “Faith comes by hearing,” meaning by hearing our lawful pastors. He also says (verses 14,15. of the same chapter): “How shall they believe in one of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” So the ordinary reason people believe the Scriptures are the Word of God is the same reason they believe all the other articles of our faith: they hear people whom the law authorizes and appoints to teach us, such as parents at home and pastors in church. Experience makes this even clearer. In Christian Common-wealths, nearly everyone believes, or at least professes, that Scripture is the Word of God; in other Common-wealths, hardly anyone does. What could explain this difference except that people in Christian Common-wealths are taught it from childhood, while people elsewhere are taught something else?
But if teaching causes faith, why does not everyone believe? Faith must therefore be God's gift, which he gives to whomever he chooses. Yet he gives it to its recipients through teachers, so hearing is its immediate cause. In a school, many pupils are taught but only some learn. The teacher is the cause of learning for those who do learn, but that does not mean learning is not God's gift. Every good thing comes from God. Still, not everyone who receives a good thing can claim to be inspired. Inspiration means a supernatural gift given directly by God. Anyone claiming that claims to be a prophet and is subject to examination by the Church.
Whether people know, believe, or grant that the Scriptures are the Word of God, I will use their clear passages to show which articles of faith, and only which, are necessary for salvation. Those people must then know, believe, or grant that conclusion too.