Only Leviathan is the expression of completed reformation

Carl Schmitt is one of the most important Hobbes scholars of the 20th century. After his slim book "Der Leviathan" published in 1938, he released another Hobbes essay in 1965, which juxtaposed his critical stance on liberalism and antisemitism with a Christian reinterpretation. This work was created under the direct influence of the correspondence published here for the first time with the theologian and Karl Barth student Dietrich Braun (1928–2014), who took the mythological turn to the symbol of the Leviathan as a religious core with great seriousness. In 1963, Schmitt reached out to the recently graduated pastor's son Dietrich Braun with a postcard and found in him a respectful yet independent intellectual partner. Despite the theoretical and theological divides that separated them, Braun and Schmitt engaged in their letters without resentment, illustrating the possibility of intellectual discourse despite differing opinions. This edition complements the intense, argumentative letters with a report by Karl Barth on Braun's Hobbes dissertation as well as additional materials, allowing readers to listen in on an academic conversation that is truly unique.