BENEDICT DE SPINOZA: Theological-Political Treatise

Theological-Political Treatise
required to prove its doctrine, and it were impossible to draw a conclusion
without a thorough consideration of absolutely all the narratives, then
obviously the demonstration and derivation of the Bible’s doctrine would
surpass the capacity and abilities not just of the common people but all
mankind. Who could simultaneously attend to such a large number of
accounts, and all the circumstances and doctrinal aspects that should be
derived from so many histories of such di¡erent types I at least remain
unpersuaded that those who left Scripture to us, as we have it, were so
rich in talent that they could manage such a demonstration themselves,
and much less do I believe it impossible to comprehend Scripture’s
teaching without hearing of the quarrels of Isaac, the counsels which
Achitophel gave to Absalom, the civil war between Judah and Israel, and
other such accounts, or that the doctrine itself could not have been
demonstrated to the earliest Jews who lived at the time of Moses equally
79 readily from stories, as it could to those who lived in Ezra’s day. I will say
more about this later.
[18] The common people, therefore, are required to know only those
histories which can most move their hearts to obedience and devotion.
But the people themselves are not su⁄ciently skilled to make judgments
about them, since they get more pleasure from stories and from strange
and unexpected events than from the actual doctrine of the histories.
This is why, in addition to reading the histories, they also need pastors or
church ministers to explain these to them, owing to the weakness of their
understanding.
[19] However, let us not wander from our purpose, but let us state the
conclusion we set out to prove, namely that, whatever the nature of these
histories, belief in them is not relevant to the divine law, nor do they make
men happy in themselves, nor do they serve any purpose other than for
their doctrine, and this is the only reason why some of them may be more
important than others. It is due to the salutary opinions that follow from
them that the narratives of the Old and New Testaments are superior to
other, non-sacred legends, and even among these, some are superior to
others. Hence if anyone reads the stories of holy Scripture and believes all
of them without paying attention to the doctrine that the Bible uses them
to teach, and without amending his life, he might just as well read the
Koran or the dramatic plays of the poets, or at any rate the common
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