BENEDICT DE SPINOZA: Theological-Political Treatise

Theological-Political Treatise
another p e rs on to tell the m whe the r the p olicy they judge to b e in the
inte rests of the st ate is p ious or i mp ious. On the c on trar y, eve r ything will
de p e nd upon the dec is ion of the on e who p o s s e s s e s the r igh t to judge
and de cre e what is p ious and what is i mp ious , what is holy and what is
s acr ile g ious.
[17] Eve r y age ha s witn e s s e d example s of this kind of dis s e ns ion. I will
adduce just on e which is , howeve r, typ ic al of the m all. Be c aus e this r igh t
wa s c once de d to the Pop e of Ro me without re str ict ion, he g radually
b e gan to b r ing all the king s u nde r his c on trol u n t il ¢nally he a s ce nde d to
the ve r y p innacle of supre me p owe r. He nceforward, any r ule r who
s ough t to le s s e n his author ity eve n a little , and e sp e c ially the Ge r man
e mp e rors , e n t irely faile d to achieve this ; in fact , on the c on trar y, by
atte mpt ing it , they e nor m ously fu r the r e nhance d his author ity. Howeve r,
what no m onarch c ould achi eve by ¢re and the sword, e ccle s ia st ic s
proved able to accomplish by the sole power of the pen. From this
instance alone one readily appreciates the strength and power of this
right and how vital it is for sovereigns to retain this authority for themselves
alone.
[18] If we als o prop e rly re£e ct on s o me remarks we made in the la st
236 chapte r, 7 we shall s e e that all this actually contributes substantially to the
enhancement of [true] religion and piety. We observed above that while
the prophets themselves were endowed with divine virtue, they were still
private individuals, and that therefore the warnings, rebukes and
denunciations which they took the liberty to deliver to men merely
antagonized them and failed to set them on the right path. However,
when men were warned or punished by kings, they were easily disciplined.
Kings themselves, we also saw, very often turned away from
religion for the very reason that this right did not adhere to them absolutely,
and then the entire population followed them. Plainly, this [kind
of thing] has also happened very frequently in Christian states.
[19] Here perhaps someone will inquire: who shall have the right to
champion piety, if those who hold power choose to be impious Or are they
to be still regarded, even then, as interpreters of piety I reply to this
7 See p. 232.
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