The word of God has been corrupted and turned into what we now know to be scripture and Spinoza does not believe that this is the true or original state of God’s intention for man. Spinoza challenges the idea that scripture is the divine law because in its current state it has been recorded as a creation of the imagination of the prophets. Spinoza believes that scripture has become for man and extensions of God and in turn scripture is a manifestation of God himself. Spinoza does not deny that for certain individual’s scripture can be divine however; he does not believe scripture is truly the unadulterated word of God (TTP 164).
Spinoza thinks that scripture is nothing but the creation of pious men, who have been blinded by the religiousness and now believe that scripture is God. Much like an idolater worships an idol the pious man has come to worship scripture. Idolatry and worship of symbols is problematic for what scripture attempts to teach. In this way scripture and even idolatry are sacred or profane relatively to what a person believes. However the worshipping and complete faith in scripture is a misuse of its original purpose. It is this worshipping of the words they have written that has caused the pious to neglect the original intent of God’s divine law. Divine law is meant to be written in our hearts by God, because we have the knowledge of rights and wrongs. Objectors to Spinoza "will insist that, even though divine law is written in our hearts, the Bible is still the word of God, and therefore we may not say that it is mutilated and corrupt" (TTP 164). Spinoza goes as far as saying that in opposing his view his adversaries are turning scripture and by extension religion into nothing more than superstition.
Scripture has become a tool to keep men obedient to the ones who can interpret scripture. Scripture participates in the divine law but I believe people fall into trouble when they may scripture out to be God. Spinoza doesn't deny the power or importance of scripture but he does question the intention behind those who manipulate the words to create their own laws and teachings (TTP 170).
As much as I would like to disagree, I regretfully must agree with what Spinoza is saying here. Being one who has been exposed to religion throughout my life, I have definitely seen ways in which scripture has been manipulated in order to fit the needs of any individual person who chooses to employ it. Anyone can look at what the word of God supposedly is, and can therefore interpret God's intentions in giving it to society as a tool for the people, but as generations pass, we continually adapt our methods of interpretation and the amount of complexity we find in those interpretations. Now with all the people on the planet trying to interpret the singular word of God, we are of course going to run into a few discrepancies in translation. When one factors in the influence of people over others, especially when paired with all the various weapons of the digital age, it is especially easy for one to gain a following. The idea of people following the interpretations of another are easily exemplified in various manners such as the different religious sects of Christianity and the differences in their beliefs. It can also be seen in the differences between Judaism and Christianity in the sense that one follows an ancient word more closely while completely ignoring a modern addition (Torah vs. Bible including New Testament). You have your religious "cults" such as Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and Jehovah's Witnesses, which both choose to exercise extremely strong control over their members, and the very members who allow themselves to be controlled. They are looked upon as groups which so highly alter their definitions of the Word of God, and stretch the essentials of Christian faith, that membership can even be destructive. Scripture HAS become a tool of pious men, they forget that they are supposed to be serving a God above the scripture that they choose to follow. They follow the scripture as a rule book and do not allow themselves to seek God beyond what is exactly written in said scriptures. It is this very seeking of God for oneself that so many fail to do, and it has become the bane of what religion should be. Scripture should not be a tool that becomes implemented as a method of control, and people should not feel as if they have to follow scripture as it is. The Word of God SHOULD be embedded into the souls of each who choose to follow it and the way that a person truly understands it is always going to vary from individual to individual. When a person takes the word of God and finds his own meaning, there is nothing stopping him from spreading what he thinks (as there is nothing wrong with that) but the point where people take it upon themselves to decide what is right and what must be followed in what way for others is what is really wrong. One should spread his or her point of view but should not push that point as what HAS to be right. That is the point where people forget that there is an overall source as to where that point comes from, they begin to follow those man made points and forget that there is a God behind all of it. This is how many are viewed as being led astray, when one person is wrong and one thousand people choose to follow that person's view, then one thousand more people are wrong. Complete faith should not be faith in scripture but it should be faith in the overall word of God.
ReplyDeleteSomething that is overlooked is that Spinoza does believe that there is a purpose to scripture. That purpose is to oblige us to be moral, or, as he would say, to follow the precepts of true religion. Spinoza’s position is really against the religious institution, which he believes has in a sense bastardized the true principles that God wanted man to follow. The religious institutions have interpreted scripture in a way that allows them to maintain control of the common man by saying that their view is the word of God. However, like many pieces of literature, and even written history, one needs to take into account who is the author and who the author is writing to in order to understand the true meaning. Spinoza seems to think that rather than doing this, the religious institutions bend the words in the scripture to serve their own purposes.
ReplyDeleteWhether metaphorical or literal, Scripture is still meant for control. It is made by people that want others to agree with them and to follow their thoughts and opinions as law (TTP 97). Spinoza states that there is only one true religion, but due to misinterpretations and different views by prophets, we have all been divided. Still, as Brad points out, it does give us a lesson on morality and justice. Scripture was written so long ago, and yet there are religious rules and ideas that change till this day, due to new interpretations and readings of the text. With each interpretation you can notice how human nature is evolving.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is such a divide between religions not only because of Prophets writing different texts, but also people having such different ideas about these texts. Each prophet has his own book, with his unique imagination at play, seeking a different audience. Within his audience arrives a new subdivision, of people coming to conflicting conclusions of what the prophet is trying to say. They then preach these ideas to others, usually for political gain.