Spinoza's Revelation

Nancy Levene reinterprets a major early modern philosopher, Benedict de Spinoza - a Jew who was rejected by the Jewish community of his day but whose thought contains, and critiques, both Jewish and Christian ideas. It foregrounds the connection of religion, democracy, and reason, showing that Spinoza's theories of the Bible, the theologico-political, and the philosophical all involve the concepts of equality and sovereignty. Professor Levene argues that Spinoza's concept of revelation is the key to this connection, and above all to Spinoza's view of human power. This is to shift the emphasis in Spinoza's thought from the language of amor Dei (love of God) to the language of libertas humana (human freedom) without losing either the dialectic of his most striking claim - that man is God to man - or the Jewish and Christian elements in his thought. Original and thoughtfully argued, this book offers fresh insights into Spinoza's thought.

• The book takes up Spinoza's famous but misunderstood argument on the complexities of the relation between religion and politics
• Pursues Spinoza's theory of reading the Bible in political and philosophical terms, and works out his concept of Jewish election, which is neither orthodox nor heterodox
• Investigates a critique of enlightenment before the Enlightenment's full flowering, anticipating many issues of contemporary philosophical and political concern