Radical Protestantism in Spinoza's Thought

Radical Protestantism in Spinoza's Thought

Author: Graeme Hunter

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-08

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 1351906917

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Spinoza is praised as a father of atheism, a precursor of the Enlightenment, an 'anti-theologian' and a father of political liberalism. When the religious dimension of Spinoza's thought cannot be ignored, it is usually dismissed as some form of mysticism or pantheism. This book explores the positive references to Christianity presented throughout Spinoza's works, focusing particularly on the Tractatus Theologico-politicus. Arguing that advocates of the anti-Christian or un-Christian Spinoza fail to look beyond Spinoza's ethics, which has the least to say about Christianity, Graeme Hunter offers a fresh interpretation of Spinoza's most important works and his philosophical and religious thought. While there is no evidence that Spinoza became a Christian in any formal sense, Hunter argues that his aim was neither to be heretical nor atheistic, but rather to effect a radical reform of Christianity and a return to simple Biblical practices. This book presents a unique contribution to current debate for students and specialist scholars in philosophy of religion, the history of philosophy and early modern history.


Book Synopsis Radical Protestantism in Spinoza's Thought by : Graeme Hunter

Download or read book Radical Protestantism in Spinoza's Thought written by Graeme Hunter and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spinoza is praised as a father of atheism, a precursor of the Enlightenment, an 'anti-theologian' and a father of political liberalism. When the religious dimension of Spinoza's thought cannot be ignored, it is usually dismissed as some form of mysticism or pantheism. This book explores the positive references to Christianity presented throughout Spinoza's works, focusing particularly on the Tractatus Theologico-politicus. Arguing that advocates of the anti-Christian or un-Christian Spinoza fail to look beyond Spinoza's ethics, which has the least to say about Christianity, Graeme Hunter offers a fresh interpretation of Spinoza's most important works and his philosophical and religious thought. While there is no evidence that Spinoza became a Christian in any formal sense, Hunter argues that his aim was neither to be heretical nor atheistic, but rather to effect a radical reform of Christianity and a return to simple Biblical practices. This book presents a unique contribution to current debate for students and specialist scholars in philosophy of religion, the history of philosophy and early modern history.

Spinoza's Religion

Spinoza's Religion

Author: Clare Carlisle

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-09-07

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 069122420X

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A bold reevaluation of Spinoza that reveals his powerful, inclusive vision of religion for the modern age Spinoza is widely regarded as either a God-forsaking atheist or a God-intoxicated pantheist, but Clare Carlisle says that he was neither. In Spinoza’s Religion, she sets out a bold interpretation of Spinoza through a lucid new reading of his masterpiece, the Ethics. Putting the question of religion centre-stage but refusing to convert Spinozism to Christianity, Carlisle reveals that “being in God” unites Spinoza’s metaphysics and ethics. Spinoza’s Religion unfolds a powerful, inclusive philosophical vision for the modern age—one that is grounded in a profound questioning of how to live a joyful, fully human life. Like Spinoza himself, the Ethics doesn’t fit into any ready-made religious category. But Carlisle shows how it wrestles with the question of religion in strikingly original ways, responding both critically and constructively to the diverse, broadly Christian context in which Spinoza lived and worked. Philosophy itself, as Spinoza practiced it, became a spiritual endeavor that expressed his devotion to a truthful, virtuous way of life. Offering startling new insights into Spinoza’s famously enigmatic ideas about eternal life and the intellectual love of God, Carlisle uncovers a Spinozist religion that integrates self-knowledge, desire, practice, and embodied ethical life to reach toward our “highest happiness”—to rest in God. Seen through Carlisle’s eyes, the Ethics prompts us to rethink not only Spinoza but also religion itself.


Book Synopsis Spinoza's Religion by : Clare Carlisle

Download or read book Spinoza's Religion written by Clare Carlisle and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bold reevaluation of Spinoza that reveals his powerful, inclusive vision of religion for the modern age Spinoza is widely regarded as either a God-forsaking atheist or a God-intoxicated pantheist, but Clare Carlisle says that he was neither. In Spinoza’s Religion, she sets out a bold interpretation of Spinoza through a lucid new reading of his masterpiece, the Ethics. Putting the question of religion centre-stage but refusing to convert Spinozism to Christianity, Carlisle reveals that “being in God” unites Spinoza’s metaphysics and ethics. Spinoza’s Religion unfolds a powerful, inclusive philosophical vision for the modern age—one that is grounded in a profound questioning of how to live a joyful, fully human life. Like Spinoza himself, the Ethics doesn’t fit into any ready-made religious category. But Carlisle shows how it wrestles with the question of religion in strikingly original ways, responding both critically and constructively to the diverse, broadly Christian context in which Spinoza lived and worked. Philosophy itself, as Spinoza practiced it, became a spiritual endeavor that expressed his devotion to a truthful, virtuous way of life. Offering startling new insights into Spinoza’s famously enigmatic ideas about eternal life and the intellectual love of God, Carlisle uncovers a Spinozist religion that integrates self-knowledge, desire, practice, and embodied ethical life to reach toward our “highest happiness”—to rest in God. Seen through Carlisle’s eyes, the Ethics prompts us to rethink not only Spinoza but also religion itself.

Spinoza's Ethic

Spinoza's Ethic

Author: Aldo Di Giovanni

Publisher:

Published: 2016-12-11

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 9781541042711

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Spinoza's close and intimate Christian friends thought that under Spinoza's guidance, they could fend off the superstitions of the established churches. ..".we may, under your guidance, uphold truth against those who are religious and Christian in a superstitious way, and may stand firm against the onslaught of the whole world. (EP8)" Not only does Spinoza's work belong to the 17th century radical protestant movement in Holland, as Graeme Hunter suggests in his book, Radical Protestantism in Spinoza's Thought, Spinoza is the most spiritually insightful and is at the extremes of that radicalism. A profound and singular voice, Spinoza accepts only the Truth and nothing less than the Truth. Spinoza's contributions to our enlightenment reveal and will yet reveal the 'ways of God' to people. Between the lines of Spinoza's Ethic lies a critical contribution to Christology, leading to a viable 21st century Christology. This booklet brings Spinoza's contribution forward in a suitably radical presentation.


Book Synopsis Spinoza's Ethic by : Aldo Di Giovanni

Download or read book Spinoza's Ethic written by Aldo Di Giovanni and published by . This book was released on 2016-12-11 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spinoza's close and intimate Christian friends thought that under Spinoza's guidance, they could fend off the superstitions of the established churches. ..".we may, under your guidance, uphold truth against those who are religious and Christian in a superstitious way, and may stand firm against the onslaught of the whole world. (EP8)" Not only does Spinoza's work belong to the 17th century radical protestant movement in Holland, as Graeme Hunter suggests in his book, Radical Protestantism in Spinoza's Thought, Spinoza is the most spiritually insightful and is at the extremes of that radicalism. A profound and singular voice, Spinoza accepts only the Truth and nothing less than the Truth. Spinoza's contributions to our enlightenment reveal and will yet reveal the 'ways of God' to people. Between the lines of Spinoza's Ethic lies a critical contribution to Christology, leading to a viable 21st century Christology. This booklet brings Spinoza's contribution forward in a suitably radical presentation.

Augustine and Spinoza

Augustine and Spinoza

Author: Milad Doueihi

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 0674050630

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Election and grace are two key concepts that not only have shaped the relations between Judaism and Christianity, but also have formed a cornerstone of the Western philosophical discourse on the evolution and progress of humanity. Though Augustine and Spinoza can be shown to share a methodological approach to these concepts, their conclusions remain radically different. For the Church Father Augustine, grace defines human nature by the potential availability of divine intervention, thus setting the stage for the institutional and political legitimacy of the Church, the Christian state, and its justice. For Spinoza, on the other hand, election represents a unique but local form of divine intervention, marked by geography and historical context. Milad Doueihi maps out the consequences of such an encounter between these two thinkers in terms of their philosophical heritage and its continued relevance for contemporary discussions of religious diversity and autonomy. Augustine asserts a theological foundation for the political, whereas Spinoza radically separates philosophy, and thus authority, from theology in order to solicit a political democracy. In this sharply argued and deeply learned book, Milad Doueihi shows us how interconnections between the two thinkers have come to shape Western philosophy.


Book Synopsis Augustine and Spinoza by : Milad Doueihi

Download or read book Augustine and Spinoza written by Milad Doueihi and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Election and grace are two key concepts that not only have shaped the relations between Judaism and Christianity, but also have formed a cornerstone of the Western philosophical discourse on the evolution and progress of humanity. Though Augustine and Spinoza can be shown to share a methodological approach to these concepts, their conclusions remain radically different. For the Church Father Augustine, grace defines human nature by the potential availability of divine intervention, thus setting the stage for the institutional and political legitimacy of the Church, the Christian state, and its justice. For Spinoza, on the other hand, election represents a unique but local form of divine intervention, marked by geography and historical context. Milad Doueihi maps out the consequences of such an encounter between these two thinkers in terms of their philosophical heritage and its continued relevance for contemporary discussions of religious diversity and autonomy. Augustine asserts a theological foundation for the political, whereas Spinoza radically separates philosophy, and thus authority, from theology in order to solicit a political democracy. In this sharply argued and deeply learned book, Milad Doueihi shows us how interconnections between the two thinkers have come to shape Western philosophy.

Spinoza: Theological-Political Treatise

Spinoza: Theological-Political Treatise

Author: Jonathan Israel

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-05-03

Total Pages: 451

ISBN-13: 1139463616

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Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise (1670) is one of the most important philosophical works of the early modern period. In it Spinoza discusses at length the historical circumstances of the composition and transmission of the Bible, demonstrating the fallibility of both its authors and its interpreters. He argues that free enquiry is not only consistent with the security and prosperity of a state but actually essential to them, and that such freedom flourishes best in a democratic and republican state in which individuals are left free while religious organizations are subordinated to the secular power. His Treatise has profoundly influenced the subsequent history of political thought, Enlightenment 'clandestine' or radical philosophy, Bible hermeneutics, and textual criticism more generally. It is presented here in a translation of great clarity and accuracy by Michael Silverthorne and Jonathan Israel, with a substantial historical and philosophical introduction by Jonathan Israel.


Book Synopsis Spinoza: Theological-Political Treatise by : Jonathan Israel

Download or read book Spinoza: Theological-Political Treatise written by Jonathan Israel and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-05-03 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise (1670) is one of the most important philosophical works of the early modern period. In it Spinoza discusses at length the historical circumstances of the composition and transmission of the Bible, demonstrating the fallibility of both its authors and its interpreters. He argues that free enquiry is not only consistent with the security and prosperity of a state but actually essential to them, and that such freedom flourishes best in a democratic and republican state in which individuals are left free while religious organizations are subordinated to the secular power. His Treatise has profoundly influenced the subsequent history of political thought, Enlightenment 'clandestine' or radical philosophy, Bible hermeneutics, and textual criticism more generally. It is presented here in a translation of great clarity and accuracy by Michael Silverthorne and Jonathan Israel, with a substantial historical and philosophical introduction by Jonathan Israel.

Spinoza's Christian Writings and Thinking

Spinoza's Christian Writings and Thinking

Author: Aldo Di Giovanni

Publisher:

Published: 2017-12-28

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 9781982058371

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The assembling and study of a Corpus of Spinoza's Christian writing and thinking produces a paradigmatic shift in understanding Spinoza's life's purpose, and the intended purpose of his life's work.Spinoza undertook to correct the degeneration of the "old Religion", which Spinoza identifies as the Christian religion taught through the stories of Christ written in scripture. Much more importantly Spinoza recognized that the old Religion is actually present in the very nature of people inscribed in them by the spirit of Christ. Using that illumination he provides both a critique the deterioration of the old Religion and more significantly a method or way to rejuvenate the practice of Christian religion. Consequently, he became a veritable, rejected and offensive anathema of a 'voice crying in the wilderness', in Europe's 17th and 18th century post-reformation landscape of both Christian and Jewish establishment churches. Of people identified as radical Protestants, Spinoza it seems was the most sophisticated and most radical. Many of the radical Protestant movements retained or developed practices that over time became acceptable to the mainstream churches. This has yet to happen to Spinoza's work as a Christian philosopher and theologian of the radical Christian kind.This booklet is an exegesis of some specific critical texts from Spinoza's works that reference: the spirit of Christ, Christ according to the spirit, the mind of Christ, Christ, and rebirth or second birth. The texts are quoted in the main body of the article. Comments and other references are footnoted. The booklet is meant for study more so than for reading, therefore a copy of the texts without the comment is included.


Book Synopsis Spinoza's Christian Writings and Thinking by : Aldo Di Giovanni

Download or read book Spinoza's Christian Writings and Thinking written by Aldo Di Giovanni and published by . This book was released on 2017-12-28 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The assembling and study of a Corpus of Spinoza's Christian writing and thinking produces a paradigmatic shift in understanding Spinoza's life's purpose, and the intended purpose of his life's work.Spinoza undertook to correct the degeneration of the "old Religion", which Spinoza identifies as the Christian religion taught through the stories of Christ written in scripture. Much more importantly Spinoza recognized that the old Religion is actually present in the very nature of people inscribed in them by the spirit of Christ. Using that illumination he provides both a critique the deterioration of the old Religion and more significantly a method or way to rejuvenate the practice of Christian religion. Consequently, he became a veritable, rejected and offensive anathema of a 'voice crying in the wilderness', in Europe's 17th and 18th century post-reformation landscape of both Christian and Jewish establishment churches. Of people identified as radical Protestants, Spinoza it seems was the most sophisticated and most radical. Many of the radical Protestant movements retained or developed practices that over time became acceptable to the mainstream churches. This has yet to happen to Spinoza's work as a Christian philosopher and theologian of the radical Christian kind.This booklet is an exegesis of some specific critical texts from Spinoza's works that reference: the spirit of Christ, Christ according to the spirit, the mind of Christ, Christ, and rebirth or second birth. The texts are quoted in the main body of the article. Comments and other references are footnoted. The booklet is meant for study more so than for reading, therefore a copy of the texts without the comment is included.

Spinoza and the Rise of Historical Criticism of the Bible

Spinoza and the Rise of Historical Criticism of the Bible

Author: Travis L. Frampton

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2006-01-01

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 9780567025937

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Frampton reassesses Spinoza's relationship to higher criticism by drawing attention to the emergence of historical-critical investigations of the Bible from among heterodox Protestants during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.


Book Synopsis Spinoza and the Rise of Historical Criticism of the Bible by : Travis L. Frampton

Download or read book Spinoza and the Rise of Historical Criticism of the Bible written by Travis L. Frampton and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Frampton reassesses Spinoza's relationship to higher criticism by drawing attention to the emergence of historical-critical investigations of the Bible from among heterodox Protestants during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Spinoza's Radical Cartesian Mind

Spinoza's Radical Cartesian Mind

Author: Tammy Nyden-Bullock

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2010-07-15

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1441106596

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Seventeenth-century Holland was a culture divided. Orthodox Calvinists, loyal to both scholastic philosophy and the quasi-monarchical House of Orange, saw their world turned upside down with the sudden death of Prince William II and no heir to take his place. The Republicans seized this opportunity to create a decentralized government favourable to Holland's trading interests and committed to religious and philosophical tolerance. The now ruling regent class, freshly trained in the new philosophy of Descartes, used it as a weapon to fight against monarchical tendencies and theological orthodoxy. And so began a great pamphlet debate about Cartesianism and its political and religious consequences. This important new book begins by examining key Radical Cartesian pamphlets and Spinoza's role in a Radical Cartesian circle in Amsterdam, two topics rarely discussed in the English literature. Next, Nyden-Bullock examines Spinoza's political writings and argues that they should not be seen as political innovations so much as systemizations of the Radical Cartesian ideas already circulating in his time. The author goes on to reconstruct the development of Spinoza's thinking about the human mind, truth, error, and falsity and to explain how this development, particularly the innovation of parallelism - the lynchpin of his system - allowed Spinoza to provide philosophical foundations for Radical Cartesian political theory. She concludes that, contrary to general opinion, Spinoza's rejection of Cartesian epistemology involves much more than the metaphysical problems of dualism - it involves, ironically, Spinoza's attempt to make coherent a political theory bearing Descartes's name.


Book Synopsis Spinoza's Radical Cartesian Mind by : Tammy Nyden-Bullock

Download or read book Spinoza's Radical Cartesian Mind written by Tammy Nyden-Bullock and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2010-07-15 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeenth-century Holland was a culture divided. Orthodox Calvinists, loyal to both scholastic philosophy and the quasi-monarchical House of Orange, saw their world turned upside down with the sudden death of Prince William II and no heir to take his place. The Republicans seized this opportunity to create a decentralized government favourable to Holland's trading interests and committed to religious and philosophical tolerance. The now ruling regent class, freshly trained in the new philosophy of Descartes, used it as a weapon to fight against monarchical tendencies and theological orthodoxy. And so began a great pamphlet debate about Cartesianism and its political and religious consequences. This important new book begins by examining key Radical Cartesian pamphlets and Spinoza's role in a Radical Cartesian circle in Amsterdam, two topics rarely discussed in the English literature. Next, Nyden-Bullock examines Spinoza's political writings and argues that they should not be seen as political innovations so much as systemizations of the Radical Cartesian ideas already circulating in his time. The author goes on to reconstruct the development of Spinoza's thinking about the human mind, truth, error, and falsity and to explain how this development, particularly the innovation of parallelism - the lynchpin of his system - allowed Spinoza to provide philosophical foundations for Radical Cartesian political theory. She concludes that, contrary to general opinion, Spinoza's rejection of Cartesian epistemology involves much more than the metaphysical problems of dualism - it involves, ironically, Spinoza's attempt to make coherent a political theory bearing Descartes's name.

Betraying Spinoza

Betraying Spinoza

Author: Rebecca Goldstein

Publisher: Schocken

Published: 2009-01-16

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 030751417X

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Part of the Jewish Encounter series In 1656, Amsterdam’s Jewish community excommunicated Baruch Spinoza, and, at the age of twenty–three, he became the most famous heretic in Judaism. He was already germinating a secularist challenge to religion that would be as radical as it was original. He went on to produce one of the most ambitious systems in the history of Western philosophy, so ahead of its time that scientists today, from string theorists to neurobiologists, count themselves among Spinoza’s progeny. In Betraying Spinoza, Rebecca Goldstein sets out to rediscover the flesh-and-blood man often hidden beneath the veneer of rigorous rationality, and to crack the mystery of the breach between the philosopher and his Jewish past. Goldstein argues that the trauma of the Inquisition’ s persecution of its forced Jewish converts plays itself out in Spinoza’s philosophy. The excommunicated Spinoza, no less than his excommunicators, was responding to Europe’ s first experiment with racial anti-Semitism. Here is a Spinoza both hauntingly emblematic and deeply human, both heretic and hero—a surprisingly contemporary figure ripe for our own uncertain age. From the Hardcover edition.


Book Synopsis Betraying Spinoza by : Rebecca Goldstein

Download or read book Betraying Spinoza written by Rebecca Goldstein and published by Schocken. This book was released on 2009-01-16 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part of the Jewish Encounter series In 1656, Amsterdam’s Jewish community excommunicated Baruch Spinoza, and, at the age of twenty–three, he became the most famous heretic in Judaism. He was already germinating a secularist challenge to religion that would be as radical as it was original. He went on to produce one of the most ambitious systems in the history of Western philosophy, so ahead of its time that scientists today, from string theorists to neurobiologists, count themselves among Spinoza’s progeny. In Betraying Spinoza, Rebecca Goldstein sets out to rediscover the flesh-and-blood man often hidden beneath the veneer of rigorous rationality, and to crack the mystery of the breach between the philosopher and his Jewish past. Goldstein argues that the trauma of the Inquisition’ s persecution of its forced Jewish converts plays itself out in Spinoza’s philosophy. The excommunicated Spinoza, no less than his excommunicators, was responding to Europe’ s first experiment with racial anti-Semitism. Here is a Spinoza both hauntingly emblematic and deeply human, both heretic and hero—a surprisingly contemporary figure ripe for our own uncertain age. From the Hardcover edition.

Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza

Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza

Author: Carlos Fraenkel

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-11-22

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0521194571

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This groundbreaking account of the concept of a philosophical religion traces its history from antiquity to the Enlightenment.


Book Synopsis Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza by : Carlos Fraenkel

Download or read book Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza written by Carlos Fraenkel and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-11-22 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking account of the concept of a philosophical religion traces its history from antiquity to the Enlightenment.