Why is Spinoza such a controversial figure in the history of
The modern era in Jewish thought was established by the alarmingly radical figure of seventeenth century philosopher, Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), who influenced Enlightenment thought throughout Europe as part of an international ideological movement. While only the most radical thinkers accepted his ideas, even the more conservative, who rejected Spinoza’s atheism and materialism, could not avoid having to answer him. Spinoza highlighted the tensions of enlightenment. In 1673, the Elector of Palatine, Karl Ludwig, offered Spinoza the professorship of philosophy at Heidelberg University in Germany, with the condition that he remain reasonably orthodox. Spinoza declined to accept it because he preferred to assert his independence of thought. The majority of his works were not written under his own name because of the strong charge made concerning his supposed atheism. He was expelled from the Sephardi community of Amsterdam in 1656 for his unorthodox views, yet, despite this, he had an influence on subsequent, more orthodox Jewish philosophers such as Moses Mendelssohn who was born 52 years after Spinoza’s death. Some believe it is as though Spinoza had been granted a glimpse of the future, which he conveyed to the wor
In terms of modern philosophy, the term “pantheism” means that God is everything, but this can convey the wrong idea. It is not that God is everything, as though everything exists individually and is God, but that nothing exists independently except God and that the “everything” we ordinarily think of, is a feature of God. Another term occasionally used for Spinoza is “panentheism”, that God is “in” everything, but this is even more deceptive, as it makes it seem like God is a feature of things, rather than the other way around. Everything is a feature of God. ld. He is often thought to have been a man who was not of his own era. Samuel Shirley was inspired to translate Spinoza’s works by the belief that Spinoza had, “a vision of truth beyond what is normally granted to human beings.” There have been numerous bursts of curiosity in Spinoza over the centuries, Germany experienced an explosion of interest in Spinoza during the 1780s, immediately prior to the French Revolution. He quickly went from being condemned as the worst of atheists and blasphemers to being universally admired by all the leading intellectuals of the day, who found in Spinoza’s works a revolutionary spirit that matched their own rising sense of rebellion against the orthodoxies of church and state. The German experience suggests that a revival of enthusiasm for Spinoza has previously been the signal of a change in social consciousness; this is significant as presently there is a huge fascination with Spinoza and his ideas. In the repressive atmosphere of the late 17th century, Spinoza’s ideas were inevitably forced underground, but Spinoza played an important part in the upheaval in thought as the ideological prelude to the French Revolution of 1789. The Enlightenment was, “a revolution of the mind—that had matured and seeped its way through large sections of society over a long period before the onset of the revolution in actuality.” In his famous philosophical treatises Spinoza denies the immortality of the soul; strongly rejects the notion of a providential God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and claims that the Law was neither literally given by God nor any longer binding on Jews. There is no mystery as to why one of history’s boldest and most radical thinkers was outlawed by an orthodox Jewish community. However, Spinoza did believe in continuing the Jewish tradition of circumcision which is contentious today. In Genesis 17:7-8,12, God called circumcision “the sign of the covenant.” In this way, God had made the rite of circumcision a visible barrier between those enjoying a covenant relationship with God and those who remained outside of God’s covenant people. As critical as Spinoza was as a Jew he could say, “such great importance do I attach to the sign of the covenant that I am persuaded that it is sufficient by itself to maintain the separate existence of the nation forever.” Although today Spinoza is recognized as one of the greatest Jewish philosophers ever, and the chief Rabbis of Israel have been petitioned to formally lift the curse upon him, this has not yet happened. Spinoza’s ideas held revolutionary significance in challenging the position of an entrenched wealthy elite and he shows the power of those ideas to transform society in a revolutionary way when they become a social force in the minds of the mass of the population. Spinoza remains a controversial person in Judaism, for very much the same reasons that led to his initial expulsion. “Spinoza’s God is not the God of Abraham and Isaac, not a personal God at all, and his system provid
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Approximate Word count = 2438
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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