Suchergebnisse

Discusses Thomas Hobbes's innovative 17th-century assertion (Leviathan) that senses, experience, & reason are natural God-given talents, best applied to the interpretation of theological matters. Hobbes's goal is to investigate the chain of testimonials & readings that intervene between the original revelation & the ultimate receiver of the message. While modern analysts of Hobbes's work are divided into schools of secular vs religious interpretation, an examination of Hobbes's philosophical explanations of the dogma of the Trinity shows that he was neither an atheist, nor a pure Calvinist, nor a rigidly orthodox Protestant thinker. Investigated is the influence of Roman humanist Lorenzo Valla's philologically based arguments (Elegantiae) to draw on the original Latin meaning of the term "persona" as used by early philosopher (Anicius Manlius Severinus) Boethius. Hobbes suggested that the philosophical trends of the time, rather than the Scriptures, gave rise to the dogma of the Trinity (the Nicene Creed). J. Sadler