NATURALISMS

Spinoza may have been the first philosopher to propose a metaphysical vision that so thoroughly integrates the deep reverence in ancient religion with the remorseless necessity of modern physics. He saw that nature is closed – no loopholes, no exceptions and no magic – and indifferent to our plight. But he also experienced something divine in nature that had been discerned as well in revealed religion, although not in full clarity. He proposed not a compromise, but an integration: yes, nature is as cold and indifferent as a mechanistic physics implies, and, yes, the light of scripture is an expression of the reverence due to nature. He asked that metaphysics and religion take a step forwards and together into a synthesis that preserved the essence of each.