# Abraham — Leviathan character guide

> Abraham in Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0003-part-i-of-man

## Snapshot

The patriarch who believed God speaking directly to him, the first link in Hobbes's chain of faith running from revelation down to the civil sovereign.

## Who they are

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses believed God himself; later Christians, Hobbes argues, believe only the pastors and sovereigns who recommend the Scriptures to them. That distinction lets Hobbes locate the authority to determine doctrine in the supreme pastor — the civil sovereign — rather than in private spirit or church infallibility. Abraham is the hinge: once faith is shown to rest on a person one has heard speak, the question of who speaks now becomes the whole quarrel.

## Relationships

### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/jesus_christ)

_family_

Abraham is the patriarchal ancestor of Jesus Christ, with Christ being the promised seed through whom all nations are blessed.

## In the story

### [XII: Of Religion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xii-of-religion)

Mentioned as a founder of divine politics, through whom the laws of the kingdom of God were derived.

### [Of the Signification in Scripture of Kingdom of God, of Holy, Sacred, and Sacrament](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xxxv-of-the-signification-in-scripture-of-kingdom-of-god-of-holy-sacred-and-sacrament)

God made a covenant with Abraham, promising the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and ordained circumcision as the sacrament of that covenant.

### [XL: Of the Rights of the Kingdom of God, in Abraham, Moses, the High Priests, and the Kings of Judah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xl-of-the-rights-of-the-kingdom-of-god-in-abraham-moses-the-high-priests-and-the-kings-of-judah)

First in the kingdom of God by covenant; God spoke only to Abraham, who commanded his family to obey God's commands.

### [XLIII: Of What Is Necessary for a Man’s Reception Into the Kingdom of Heaven](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xliii-of-what-is-necessary-for-a-man-s-reception-into-the-kingdom-of-heaven)

Listed among those who believed God speaking supernaturally.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/abraham
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters