BENEDICT DE SPINOZA: Theological-Political Treatise

Theological-Political Treatise
Anyone willing to re£ect on this, will ¢nd nothing in what I have said
that is in con£ict with God’s word, or with true religion and faith, or anything
that can lessen its authority; for, on the contrary, we are enhancing
it, as we showed at the end of chapter 10. If this were not so, I would have
resolved to remain silent about these topics. I would even ^ so as to avoid
all di⁄culties ^ have gladly agreed that profound mysteries lie hidden
in the Scriptures. However, since this belief has produced intolerable
superstition and other disastrous consequences which I reviewed at the
beginning of chapter 7, I realized that I simply could not ignore them,
especially as religion requires no superstitious embellishment but, on the
contrary, it loses all its splendour when it is adorned with these ¢ctions.
[3] But they [i.e. my adversaries] will insist that, even though the divine
law is written on our hearts, the Bible is still the word of God, and therefore
we may not say that it is mutilated and corrupt any more than we may say
this of the word of God.Truly, though, I fear that they, on the contrary, try
too hard to be pious.They are converting religion into superstition, indeed
verge, unfortunately, on adoring images and pictures, i.e. paper and ink,
as the word of God. I know I have said nothing unworthy of Scripture or of
the word of God, since I have said nothing that I have not demonstrated to
be true by the clearest reasoning. That is why I can also assert with con-
¢dence that I have said nothing that is irreligious or that smacks of impiety.
I admit that some impious persons who ¢nd religion a burden, may
discern an excuse for wrongdoing here and may infer, without any justi¢cation
but merely to indulge their pleasures, that Scripture is thoroughly
£awed and corrupted and consequently lacks authority. One can do nothing
to help such people. It is a commonplace that nothing can be so well
formulated that it cannot be perverted by wrong interpretation. Anyone
who aspires to indulge in pleasures will readily ¢nd a pretext. Nor were
those who in ancient times possessed the original texts themselves and the
160 ark of the covenant, and indeed the prophets and the Apostles, any better
or more obedient. All men alike, both Jews and gentiles, have always been
the same, and in every age virtue has been very rare.
[4] However, to remove every scruple, I must show on what grounds
Scripture, or any inarticulate object, could be called sacred and divine.
After that, I must prove what the word of God really is and that it is not
contained in a certain number of books. Finally I must demonstrate that,
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