Spinoza in His Time: The 17th-Century Religious Context

Joke Spaans

doi:10.3390/philosophies6020027

Abstract

In one of the last paragraphs of his Tractatus theologico-politicus (1670), Spinoza extolls the harmony between people of a diversity of faiths, maintained by the magistracy of Amsterdam. However, he also seems apprehensive about the possibility of the return of chaos, such as during the Arminian Controversies in the Dutch Republic in the 1610s and the English Civil War in the 1640s and 1650s. The so-called Wolzogen affair in 1668 probably rattled him. Spinoza’s fears would, however, prove groundless. Theological controversy in the public church was often fierce and bitter, but did not threaten the integrity of the State after 1619. Political and ecclesiastical authorities supported discussions and debate in which a new theological consensus could be hammered out. From the examples of Petrus de Witte’s Wederlegginge der Sociniaensche Dwaelingen and Romeyn de Hooghe’s Hieroglyphica, I will argue that such freedom was not limited to the universities, under the aegis of academic freedom, but that Spinoza’s call for free research and open debate was in fact everyday reality.

Highlights

In one of the last paragraphs of his Tractatus theologico-politicus (1670), Spinoza extolls the harmony between people of a diversity of faiths, maintained by the magistracy of Amsterdam
Spinoza lived in a country marked by religious diversity and a lively culture of discussion
Differences of opinion were negotiated in public debate, when these differences concerned religion: in academic disputations, in pamphlets, undoubtedly during the advanced catechism classes, in artistic expression, and apparently even among fishermen and their customers

Summary

Religious

Spinozaextolls extollsthe the harmony harmonybetween betweenpeople peopleof of aa diversity diversity of of faiths, faiths, maintained maintained by by the the magistracy magistracy of of AmsterAmsterdam. In the 18th century, for the same reasons, the Armenians would be granted full religious freedom, in a smaller church, but one that by the decoration on its façade was immediately recognisable as belonging to Eastern Christianity (the white dot marked A on the map) These privileges infringed upon the Reformed church’s monopoly on public worship. In politics and in religion, for years England was the scene of unprecedented chaos, until in 1660 both the monarchy and the established church were restored [13] In his Tractatus, Spinoza suggested that anarchy could overwhelm the Republic again, if the authorities would not allow everybody ‘to think as he pleased, and to say what he thought’. Spinoza claimed, could not harm the State, but on the contrary, would strengthen it, whereas compulsion and censorship in religious matters would foment discontent

Theological Controversy

General Debating Culture and Libertas Philosophandi

Reminder

Conclusions