One of the principal reasons for political instability, according to Hobbes, is that people misunderstand what the Christian church is and how it fits into world history. He devotes a substantial part of Leviathan to explaining (1) what a church is; (2) how God's sovereignty imposes a structure on history; (3) what the mission of Jesus was; (4) what worship is; and (5) what the essence of Christianity is. These topics will be discussed in successive sections in this chapter.

THE NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Just as he does for “spirit,” “angel,” and other difficult words, Hobbes begins his discussion of what a church is with a survey of the various uses of the word. “Church” can refer to the building within which people worship God. This use is derived from a more basic one in which “church” refers to the people gathered or assembled for worship in the building. In a related use, “church” refers to all the people who might be assembled but are not. Hobbes points out that in none of these uses does “church” signify something that has a unity. As described thus far, a church is a conglomeration of individuals who lack political organization, because the church is not represented by any person (EW, 3:458–9, 4:337). The only way for a church to attain unity is for its members to institute some kind of leader. There are two possibilities.