BENEDICT DE SPINOZA: Theological-Political Treatise

The teachings of Scripture
[9] It is not in the least surprising, therefore, that God adapted Himself
to the imaginations and preconceived opinions of the prophets and that
the faithful have held con£icting views about God, as we showed with
numerous examples in chapter 2. Nor is it at all surprising that the sacred
books express themselves so inappropriately about God throughout,
attributing hands and feet to him, and eyes and ears, and movement in 172
space, as well as mental emotions, such as being jealous, merciful, etc., and
depicting him as a judge and as sitting on a royal throne in heaven with
Christ at his right hand. They are here manifestly speaking according
to the [utterly de¢cient] understanding of the common people, whom
Scripture strives to render not learned but obedient.
However, theologians as a rule have contended that whatever they could
discern with the natural light of reason is inappropriate to the divine nature
and must be interpreted metaphorically and whatever eludes their
understanding must be accepted in the literal sense. But if everything of
this sort which is found in the Bible had necessarily to be construed and
explained metaphorically, then Scripture would have been composed not
for common folk and uneducated people, but exclusively for the most
learned and philosophical. Moreover, were it really impious, to attribute to
God piously and in simplicity of heart those characteristics we have just
mentioned, the prophets would certainly have been particularly scrupulous
about phrases of this sort given the intellectual limitations of ordinary
people, if for no other reason.They would have made it their principal aim
to teach God’s attributes clearly and explicitly as everyone is obliged to
accept them. But nowhere do they in fact do this.
We should certainly not accept, therefore, that beliefs considered as
such, in isolation and without regard to actions, entail anything of piety
or impiety at all. We must rather assert that a person believes something
piously or impiously only in so far as they are moved to obedience by
their beliefs or, as a result of them, deem themselves free to o¡end or
rebel [against God’s word]. Hence, if anyone is rendered disobedient by
believing the truth, he truly has an impious faith; in so far, on the other
hand, as he becomes obedient through believing what is false, he has
truly a pious faith. For we have shown that true knowledge of God is not
a command but a divine gift, and God requires no other knowledge from
men than that of his divine justice and charity, knowledge required not
for intellectual understanding but only for obedience [to the moral law].
177