This short text by Spinoza lays out what he sees as the differences in force between religious and civil law. The treatise is also a defense of liberalism, democracy, freedom of conscience, and free speech. As for all of his philosophical works, it was originally written in Latin as the “Tractatus Theologico-Politicus”. Spinoza begins by discussing the Judeo-Christian religious tradition and, specifically, the prophets. “Prophecy is inferior to natural knowledge, which needs no sign, but of its own nature carries certainty…. Moreover, the certainty afforded by prophecy was not a mathematical certainty, but only a moral certainty.” To this end, Spinoza discusses the means of God’s actions and the role of the natural order. “By God’s direction I mean the fixed and immutable order of Nature, or chain of events…. The universal laws of Nature according to which all things happen and are determined are nothing but God’s eternal decrees, which always involve eternal truth and necessity.”
According to Spinoza, it is man’s knowledge of God that makes him a moral creature. “Since the love of God is man’s highest happiness and blessedness, and the final end and aim of all human action, it follows that only he observes the Divine Law who makes it his object to love God not through fear of punishment nor through love of some other thing such as sensual pleasure, fame and so forth, but from the mere fact that he knows God, or knows that the knowledge and love of God is the supreme good. So the sum of the Divine Law and its chief command is to love God as the supreme good…. If we now consider the nature of the natural Divine Law as we have just explained it we shall see: 1. That it is of universal application, or common to all mankind. For we have deduced it from human nature as such…. 2. That it does not demand belief in historical narratives of any kind whatsoever. For since it is merely a consideration of human nature that leads us to this natural Divine Law, evidently it applies equally to Adam as to any other man, and equally to a man living in a community as to a hermit…. 3. We see that the natural Divine Law does not enjoin ceremonial rites, that is, actions which in themselves are of no significance and are termed good merely by tradition…. For the natural light of reason enjoins nothing that is not within the compass of reason…. 4. Finally, we see that the supreme reward of the Divine Law is the law itself, namely, to know God and to love him in true freedom with all our heart and mind.”
For Spinoza, the existence of God is a necessity. “It is only in concession to the understanding of the multitude and the defectiveness of their thought that God is described as a lawgiver or ruler, and is called just, merciful and so on, and that in reality God acts and governs all things solely from the necessity of his own nature and perfection, and his decrees and volitions are eternal truths, always involving necessity.”
After discussing the Torah, Spinoza brings in the teachings of Christ. “Although religion as preached by the Apostles—who simply related the story of Christ—does not come within the scope of reason, yet its substance, which consists essentially in moral teachings, as does the whole of Christ’s doctrine, can be readily grasped by everyone by the natural light of reason.” Spinoza continues on the properties of the Divine Law, “There can be no doubt that the Divine Law has come down to us in this respect uncorrupted. From the Scripture itself we learn that its message, unclouded by any doubt or any ambiguity, is in essence this, to love God above all, and one’s neighbor as oneself…. For this is the basis of the whole structure of religion; if it is removed, the entire fabric crashes to the ground…. Knowledge of God is God’s gift, not a command…. God through his prophets asks no other knowledge of himself than the knowledge of his divine justice and charity…. God is supremely just and supremely merciful, that is, the one perfect pattern of the true life…. The intellectual knowledge of God which contemplates his nature as it really is in itself—a nature which men cannot imitate by a set rule of conduct nor take as their example—has no bearing on the practice of a true way of life, on faith, and on revealed religion, and that consequently men can go far away in this matter without sinning.”
For Spinoza, obedience is the paramount requisite of religion. “The aim of Scripture is simply to teach obedience…. The message of the Gospel is one of simple faith; that is, belief in God and reverence for God, or—which is the same thing—obedience to God…. It is also undeniable that he who by God’s commandments loves his neighbor as himself is truly obedient and blessed according to the Law…. Scripture does not require us to believe anything beyond what is necessary for fulfilling of the said commandment…. Therefore the commandment is the one and only guiding principle for the entire common faith of mankind, and through this commandment alone should be determined all the tenets of faith that every man is duty bound to accept…. All else can legitimately be inferred simply by the process of reason.”
Spinoza expands on the nature of reason and how it complements religion. “Neither is theology required to be subordinate to reason nor reason to theology…. Each has its own domain. The domain of reason, as we have said, is truth and wisdom, the domain of theology is piety and obedience…. Theology defines its religious dogmas only so far as suffices to secure obedience, and it leaves it to reason to decide exactly how these dogmas are to be understood in respect of truth; for reason is in reality the light of the mind…. Theology thus understood, if you consider its precepts and moral teaching, will be found to agree with reason; and if you look to its purpose and end, it will be found to be in no respect opposed to reason, and is therefore valid for all men.”
Finally, Spinoza touches on politics and the nature of the State. “There is nobody who does not desire to live in safety free from fear, as far as is possible. But this cannot come about as long as every individual is permitted to do just as he pleases, and reason can claim no more right than hatred and anger…. In order to achieve a secure and good life, men had necessarily to unite in one body. They therefore arranged that the unrestricted right naturally possessed by each individual should be put into common ownership, and that this right should no longer be determined by the strength and appetite of the individual, but by the power and will of all together…. They had to bind themselves by the most stringent pledges to be guided in all matters only by the dictates of reason…. Every state must necessarily preserve its own form, and cannot be changed without incurring the danger of utter ruin.”
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