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5 - The Religion of the State

Spinoza’s Reimagining of the Bible’s Origins and the Interiorization of Religion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2021

Travis DeCook
Affiliation:
Carleton University, Ottawa
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Summary

This chapter considers how Spinoza’s treatment of scriptural origins in the Theological-Political Treatise is used to found his political argument. It argues that concepts of secularity and secularization have been inaccurately applied to Spinoza’s discussion of the Bible’s textual history, and that Spinoza cannot be viewed simply as a debunker of Scripture, even as his treatment of Scripture is theologically radical and has profound political implications. It shows how his claim that the Bible’s origins lie in the human imagination undergirds his argument that religious belief can be separated from religious conduct, a distinction not only central to his argument for the political state’s control over religion, but also central to the secular states associated with modernity. The chapter proceeds to show the oppressive and illiberal implications of Spinoza’s political-theological argument for religious minorities. Spinoza’s non-traditional account of the Bible and religion thus both founds a distinction which proved fundamental to modern secularity, even as, it is argued, Spinoza’s theological-political argument itself resists a straightforward identification as secular.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Origins of the Bible and Early Modern Political Thought
Revelation and the Boundaries of Scripture
, pp. 147 - 176
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • The Religion of the State
  • Travis DeCook, Carleton University, Ottawa
  • Book: The Origins of the Bible and Early Modern Political Thought
  • Online publication: 02 March 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108913980.006
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  • The Religion of the State
  • Travis DeCook, Carleton University, Ottawa
  • Book: The Origins of the Bible and Early Modern Political Thought
  • Online publication: 02 March 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108913980.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Religion of the State
  • Travis DeCook, Carleton University, Ottawa
  • Book: The Origins of the Bible and Early Modern Political Thought
  • Online publication: 02 March 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108913980.006
Available formats
×