Daily Alert

Spinoza and the Bible

As a Jew, Spinoza had to raise a somewhat different set of questions than Hobbes and Locke. While the questions of the latter grew out of their lives safely ensconced in the relatively homogeneous majority of their own land and led to the development of the idea of civil society, Spinoza, a Jew seeking admission to the larger society from which he was excluded, provided the intellectual basis for liberal democracy. The first modern secular Jew, he championed the separation of religion and state and the development of a basically secular society in which Jews, Christians, and others could be accepted without regard to their religious or ethnic ancestry. To foster his goal he had to confront the Bible and either refute its claims or render them unimportant to civil society. The most knowledgeable of the seventeenth century philosophers when it came to Scripture because of the Jewish education of his childhood, he "invented" modern biblical criticism.
Share this

Table of Contents

Share this

Subscribe to Daily Alert

The Daily Alert – Israel news digest appears every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Related Items

Stay Informed, Always

Get the latest news, insights, and updates directly in your inbox—be the first to know!







Notifications

The Jerusalem Center
Israeli Embassy in London Was the Target of Foiled Iranian Terror Plot

The Israeli Embassy in London was the target of a terror plot by five Iranian nationals who were arrested by British police last weekend, according to people familiar with the matter. The five men were detained on Saturday on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, in an operation led by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terror Command.

4:31pm
The Jerusalem Center
Biden’s Gaza Humanitarian Aid Pier Injured Far More US Service Members Than Previously Reported

Over 60 U.S. military personnel were injured and one killed during the construction and deployment of former President Joe Biden’s humanitarian aid pier off the coast of Gaza, indicating that the failed project was more dangerous than previously believed, according to a new report released by the Pentagon Inspector General on Tuesday.

4:30pm
The Jerusalem Center
Syrian Leader Says Country Has Held Indirect Talks with Israel

President Ahmed al-Shara of Syria said on Wednesday that Syria had held indirect talks with Israel to contain escalating tensions, days after Israeli jets struck the capital, Damascus, amid deepening sectarian violence inside the country.

4:29pm
The Jerusalem Center
Marco Rubio To Close State Department’s De Facto Palestinian Embassy

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will dissolve the State Department’s Office of Palestinian Affairs (OPA), a Biden-era creation that elevated relations with the Palestinian Authority. In the early hours of Hamas’s October 7 attack, the OPA called on Israel to stand down and forgo any retaliation.

4:27pm
The Jerusalem Center
Houthis say U.S. “Backed Down” and Israel Not Covered by Ceasefire

A senior Houthi official has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim the Yemeni armed group “capitulated” when agreeing a ceasefire deal, saying the U.S. “backed down” instead.

4:21pm
The Jerusalem Center
Vice President Vance: Iran Can Have “Civil Nuclear Power” but No Weapon

Vice President JD Vance said at a conference in Washington on Wednesday that Iran can have a “civil nuclear program” but not a “nuclear weapons program,” offering yet another confusing signal about the Trump administration’s position on Iran’s nuclear capabilities as negotiations with the Islamic Republic are set to enter their fourth round.

4:16pm

Close