We live in times of great, sometimes violent religious tension. The conflict spans continents and religions – monotheistic and pantheistic and secular.
More than ever some idea that can reconcile doctrinaire concepts of the divine with the order of natural science is called for. That idea has been around for 350 years. It was first thought through by the philosopher Benedict Spinoza. Spinoza’s God is the entire universe, the approach to understanding this deity is our own power of rational thinking.
If that sounds like a reasonable idea to you imagine what it sounded like in 1670: heresy and the threat of violent death. That Didn’t stop Spinoza thinking freely or writing down what he thought. He risked all for the truth and along the way opened the door to the Enlightenment and liberty. Atheist or pantheist? Apostle of Freedom or Emissary from hell? Michael Goldfarb tells the story of one of history’s greatest and most notorious philosophers in "God Intoxicated Man: the Life and Modern Times of Benedict Spinoza."