Comparison Of Christianity And Thomas Hobbes

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A counter narrative can be seen to arise over the very nature of man itself. A negative conception of the nature of man arguably erodes all the work done allowing for man to maximise himself within a state and paints the role of systems and states in an entirely different light. For many theorist man is inherently destructive or evil and a “leviathan” (Hobbes, 1661) must be required to stop man from self-destructing.. Augustine of Hippo states that humans are all inherently sinful due to original sin. Original sin is "the tendency to sin innate in all human beings” (Treier, 2006). This notion over the banality that man will sin can be seen to be prevalent within highly Christian societies where the dominion of a monarch or ‘leviathan’ was common. Hobbes describes human nature as "war of every man against every man,"(Hobbes,1651, book 1 …show more content…
For Schmitt the only truth he knows is that men are by nature sinful and therefore will have natural enemies. He claims this knowledge from Christian( Schmitt being a devote catholic) teaching in the Bible using the quote “I will put enmity between your seed and her seed” (Genesis 3:15). The Christian approach to human nature and the way that this effects the construction of political systems was at its height within the middle ages. A true expression of this can be seen to be Magna Carta signed in 1215. Although it Cleary ascribes civil liberties to the citizens of England a key clause can be seen to be the fact that Barons in light of these agreements being signed will provide levies for the Kings army. Almost begrudgingly accepting that their primary responsibility as landed gentry was to protect its citizens from foreign threats. Almost confirming that if conflict is indeed natural then a leviathan must be in place to protect its citizens. Despite the disagreement about whether or not conflict is a constructive thing for a state. Hobbes and Schmitt clearly believe that a state is designed to protect its citizens from

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