Christian ecclesiology and the composition of 'Leviathan': A newly discovered letter to Thomas Hobbes

This communication presents a newly discovered letter to Thomas Hobbes. It offers conclusive evidence that the letter was written by Hobbes' friend, t he scientist and Anglican clergyman Robert Payne, and strong evidence that the letter was in fact received by Hobbes in late 1649. The discovered lett er was part of a running controversy over questions of church government in which Hobbes and Payne engaged during the composition of Leviathan. In it Payne tries unsuccessfully to soften Hobbes' strident Erastianism, and to d efend the beleaguered Church of England from his criticisms. The letter thu s shed light on the political religious context in which Leviathan was comp osed. Moreover, the letter offers an indirect but intriguing glimpse at und erlying assumptions of Hobbes' religious thought.