The Political Realm: Journal of Undergraduate Research in Political Science and International Relations
Abstract
This article argues that Hobbes views religion as a fundamental threat to political stability because competing religious authorities and claims of divine revelation undermine obedience to the sovereign and risk returning society to a state of civil war. Through close readings of Leviathan, it shows how Hobbes reframes religion as a human invention rooted in fear, critiques the political power of the Church, and ultimately uses contradictions about God’s nature to suggest that divine law cannot be rationally known. The author concludes that Hobbes’s political project requires a secular commonwealth in which religion has no public role, ensuring that civil authority remains the sole source of legitimate power.
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Recommended Citation
Mancarella, Lea
(2026)
"Religion in Hobbes’ Political Project: God and Secularism in The Leviathan,"
The Political Realm: Journal of Undergraduate Research in Political Science and International Relations: Vol. 35, Article 9.
Available at:
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/political-realm/vol35/iss1/9