Spinoza's Critique of Religion
What is the role of religion in a modern state? When religious freedoms collide with state interests, which should prevail? Spinoza rejected the authority of religion and the divine origin of Scripture, laying the groundwork for modern Biblical criticism and championing the separation of religion and state. A contemporary denounced the Treatise as “a book forged in hell.” We begin with a close reading of the Treatise, followed by selections from his Ethics and correspondence, and consider Spinoza’s long legacy: the rise of secularism, the origins of Biblical criticism, and the reasons why Spinoza has been called “the first modern Jew.”