Baruch Spinoza, published in 1670 a philosophical treatise Theological-Political Treatise. The booked when published was condemned and labeled the most dangerous book ever published by the authority of the day. The book was published before his more famous, but arguably less influential work Ethics and a German theologian by the name of Jacob Thomasius ranted against this godless document and that it should be banned in all countries. That has always been a tactic of not only religious authority, but unquestionable authority in general, to silence those who pose a threat by questioning, not just the decisions of the authoritative dictator, or in Spinozas case, authoritative clergy, but to question their position particularly. The Church didnt like it, and so they did what they always done best, threw false accusations on the character of Spinoza and the book, going so far as to call it a book forged in hell written by the devil himself. Spinozas importance in the history of ideas is sometimes overlooked, but, in a time when saying that the Bible wasnt literally the word of God could get you killed, he was a critic of this position and instead adopted the idea that the book was a work of human literature, and that true religion was separate from theology, ceremonies were pointless, and that ecclesiastical authorities should be found missing when it came to making laws and how the government should be ran. He wrote that miracles (understood as violations of the natural order of things) shouldnt be believed, and if one happened to believe in them this was an example of the human races gullibility and ignorance. In the period that Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (Theological-Political Treatise) was written it received poor treatment, of course, the banishment of the book in some parts of the world had an hand in making sure this was the case, and Spinoza himself became excommunicated from Judaism. The last two decades have been more welcoming to Spinoza and to the -Treatise- in particular. Spinoza is beginning to find his place in the discussion of philosophy, religion, politics etc. He was one of the very first people to approach the Bible critically, to examine its story as history and to not simply accept the stories as true because they happened to be a part of the Bible. He presented a new method of Bible exegesis, almost a sort of Biblical criticism and examining the traditional authority against what he called the light of reason. Ill end with a passage from the very first page, in a preface even before his actual Treatise, and will be quoting Spinoza in the upcoming days/weeks. For no one can have lived among men without noticing that when things are going well, most people, however ignorant they may be, are full of their own cleverness and are insulted to be offered advice. But when things go wrong, they do not know where to turn and they will seek guidance from anyone. No suggestion they hear is too unwise, ridiculous or absurd to follow. Moreover, for the flimsiest of reasons they are conditioned one moment to expect everything to go better and the next to fear the worst. For when they are afraid, anything they see that reminds them of some good or bad thing in the past seems to prognosticate a happy or unhappy outcome, and so they call it a good or a bad omen, even though they have been disappointed a hundred times in the past. Again, if they see anything out of the ordinary that causes them great astonishment, they believe it to be a prodigy which indicates the anger of the gods or of the supreme deity, and they think it would be sinful no to expiate it by offering sacrifice and prayers, because they are addicted to superstition and adverse to true religion. They develop an infinite number of such practices, and invent extraordinary interpretations of nature, as if the whole of nature were as senseless as they are. Baruch Spinoza
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 07:25:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015