O Tratado teológico-político, que Baruch de Espinosa publicou em 1670, chegou a ser considerado por seus contemporâneos o livro mais perigoso até então escrito. Em uma das contestações iniciais à obra, o teólogo alemão Jakob Thomasius chamou-a de "documento ímpio" e recomendou que fosse proscrita em todos os países. Leitor de primeira hora do Tratado, Thomas Hob­bes considerou que ele mesmo não se atrevera a escrever com tanta ousadia.

Censurado nos Países Baixos pouco após a sua publicação e incluído, em 1679, no Índice de Livros Proibidos da Igreja Católica, o Tratado entrou para o rol da literatura clandestina. Suas reflexões, porém, influenciariam decisivamente revolucionários na Grã-Bretanha, nos Estados Unidos e na França, em luta por Estados seculares e tolerantes. Em Um livro forjado no inferno, o professor de filosofia Steven Nadler, biógrafo de Espinosa e um de seus principais especialistas, reconstitui o contexto histórico da publicação do Tratado e analisa cada uma das ideias que escandalizaram a Europa. (Amazon)

http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2022-02.html#nadler-on-spinoza ( )

A Book Forged in Hell by Steven Nadler would be disturbing to believers of the monotheistic faith traditions. Nadler wrote the 17th century Jewish philosopher of Dutch origin Baruch Spinoza viewed religion in Theological-Political Treatise as superstitious. Nature as God is ubiquitous. It encompasses all things and was considered Providence. Every aspect of this essence is reflected in the good and bad people experience. Miracles that are described in the monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam could be explained through the varieties of ever-changing nature. These are natural occurrences that surprise people when they appear not to have an explanation why such a phenomenon occurs. The first rainbow that mankind saw struck them as a miracle, but as science later showed this resulted from scientific evidence.
Prophecy could also be viewed as another phenomenon. Prophets in ancient times were uneducated, had vivid imaginations, and were motivated by dreams, and visions. In modern times these men and women would be considered as having psychotic episodes. But their accounts of revelations to the Israelites were filled with images of a Creator being like a human being. However it would be wrong to personalize God, for according to Spinoza “God is Nature.” Nature is therefore all things that are good and bad which exist in the Universe. It’s more realistic to think about God as Nature by an objective analysis.
This concept inevitably leads individuals to recognize that sin is non-existent, and a human construct. This idea in the monotheistic faiths grew out of the notion of God being like a human being. But God as Nature is material and immaterial. God as Nature doesn’t have human characteristics that are often in sacred texts. This spiritual essence couldn’t be described or understood. But God as Nature’s essence is universal and governs all things. Putting a human face on God as Nature is therefore an error that equates this primal essence with humankind.
Spinoza also believed in freedom of speech, and viewed it to be the underpinnings of a democratic society. His belief focused on his belief that this was the best form of government. In a democratic society he saw people as sovereign in this social contract that benefits all citizens. Left to their own will to do as they please, Spinoza envisioned people to act in their own self-interest. So it’s only through a democratic government that people would be able to promote what’s best for its citizenry. However Spinoza felt that in a democracy there should be a limit on speech, and it shouldn’t be seditious. Nadler wrote that Spinoza’s reasoning about sedition wasn’t exactly clear. Namely, when was speech to be classified as being seditious? Did Spinoza mean speech threatening the overthrow of government? Or, could it also be statements that were construed as anti-government?
Spinoza’s Treatise was eventually banned and attacked by conservatives and liberals. Yet his works have resurfaced in publications in the Netherlands, England, France, Germany, and America. In the 20th century Spinoza’s Treatise and Ethics are hailed as visionary in democratic societies where free speech is a hallmark. ( )

Having had numerous unfortunate experiences with them, I try to avoid books with insanely ambitious American-style subtitles, but I thought I'd risk it for once, since this one looks reassuringly like a dry academic commentary unconvincingly posing as something with mass-market appeal.

That turns out to be pretty much what it is. Nadler gives a solid account of what Spinoza says in his Theological-Political Treatise and how it relates to Spinoza's other works and the writings of his contemporaries. It's written at a level that is - just about - accessible to non-philosophers, but is still pretty demanding on the reader: there doesn't seem to be any question of dumbing-down for a mass audience here. Nadler makes a pretty strong case for how radical Spinoza's ideas were, and explains some of the finer shades of meaning that we need to take into account (I hadn't realised, for instance, that although he dismisses the claims of prophecy, miracles, the authority of scripture, etc., he doesn't see himself as an atheist).

Where Nadler doesn't seem to deliver what he promises, though, is in putting Spinoza into the context of the 17th-century Netherlands and exploring the reception of his ideas. It really looks as though this was something that the publishers persuaded Nadler to bolt onto his project even though he didn't have enough material to do a proper job: the result seems very fragmented and repetitious, especially if you are reading the book from start to finish rather than dipping into it for reference. Not a big deal, since there are plenty of historians who have covered this ground, and Nadler's strength is obviously more on the side of philosophy. ( )

As a non-specialist who wanted to learn more about Spinoza's thought, I found this book enlightening, instructive, and eminently readable. It opens with a chapter on Spinoza's life and times, and closes with one on the publishing and reception of the book in question. Most of Nadler's book, however, consists of a point by point explication of Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise. This, according to Nadler, was much more accessible than other Spinoza works, notably the Ethics. It contained several of his key ideas, however, and was certainly a work that reverberated through Western thought.

Nadler's book is eminently clear, and his prose engaging, which makes this an ideal introduction to Spinoza for the non-specialist.. As such, I can't evaluate it on an academic level, but the review below suggests that it more than passes muster. ( )