BENEDICT DE SPINOZA: Theological-Political Treatise

Theological-Political Treatise
[17] It happens very rarely that men report something straightforwardly,
just as it occurred, without intruding any judgment of their own into the
92 telling. In fact, when people see or hear something new, they will, unless
very much on their guard against their own preconceived opinions, usually
be so biased by these that they will perceive something quite di¡erent from
what they actually saw or heard had happened, especially if the event is
beyond the understanding of the reporter or his audience, and most of all
if it is in his interest that it should have happened in a certain way.This is
why authors of chronicles and histories speak more about their opinions
than about the actual events, and one and the same event can be so di¡erently
narrated by two persons with di¡erent beliefs that they seem to be
reporting two di¡erent events. And, ¢nally, it is often not very di⁄cult to
trace the beliefs of the chroniclers and historians just from their histories.
I could o¡er many examples con¢rming this, both from philosophers
who have written natural histories, and from chroniclers, except that
I think this would be super£uous. I will just give one from the Bible; the
reader may then judge for himself of others.
[18] In Joshua’s time (as we have already mentioned above) the Hebrews,
along with everyone else, believed that the sun moves by its so-called
own diurnal motion while the earth remains at rest, and they adapted to
this preconceived belief a miracle that occurred to them when they were
¢ghting the ¢ve kings. They did not simply say that that day was longer
than usual, they said that the sun and the moon stood still or ceased their
motion. This greatly helped them at the time to con¢rm by experience,
and persuade the gentiles who adored the sun, that the sun operates
under the government of another deity at whose command it had to
change its natural regular movement. Thus partly owing to religion, and
partly from preconceived beliefs, they conceived of the thing happening in
a totally di¡erent way from how it actually occurred, and that is how they
reported it.
[19] Hence, to interpret the biblical miracles correctly, and to understand
from the reports of them how these things really happened, it is
essential to know the beliefs of those who ¢rst reported them and have left
them to us in writing and to distinguish their beliefs from what their senses
could represent to them. For otherwise we shall confuse their beliefs
and judgments with the miracle as it really happened.
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