This book investigates the core question of how Thomas Hobbes’s theory of religious language reconciles his apparent piety with his rejection of traditional realist theology. Thomas Holden, a scholar of early modern philosophy, utilizes a close textual analysis of Hobbes’s major works to argue that religious discourse for Hobbes functions as an expressivist tool rather than a descriptive one. By framing religious speech as a mechanism for expressing honor and reverence toward an incomprehensible deity, Holden provides a framework that resolves long-standing contradictions in Hobbesian scholarship.

Scholars view this work as a significant contribution to the study of early modern religious thought, particularly for its focus on the semantic dimensions of Hobbes’s philosophy. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is intended for an audience familiar with seventeenth-century philosophical debates.