Spinoza treats religion (religio) as a virtue rather than a system of beliefs or an affiliation to a social institution. In the Ethics he associates religion with “fortitude” – a broad virtue encompassing both courage and generosity – but in the TTP he consistently associates “true religion” with two core virtues: justice and charity (charitas or caritas). Edwin Curley translates charitas as “loving-kindness”; it can also be translated simply as “love.” In emphasizing these virtues, Spinoza adopts an ethical conception of religion that overrides sectarian doctrinal disputes, which in his day – as in ours – could cause bitter social divisions and violent conflict.