“A Book Forged in Hell”: Religion, Enlightenment and Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise

What is the role of religion in a modern state? When citizens’ religious freedoms collide with state interests, which should prevail? In his Theological-Political Treatise, Spinoza rejected the divine origin of scripture and the authority of religion and set the stage for modern textual criticism. He championed the separation of religion and state and laid the groundwork for modern secularism. One reviewer denounced the Treatise as “a book forged in hell.” We begin with a close reading of the Treatise and then consider Spinoza’s long legacy: the rise of liberalism and secularism, the origins of modern Biblical criticism, and the reasons why Spinoza has been called “the first modern Jew.”