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A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age by [Steven Nadler]

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Steven M. Nadler

A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age Kindle Edition

by Steven Nadler (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The story of one of the most important—and incendiary—books in Western history

When it appeared in 1670, Baruch Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise was denounced as the most dangerous book ever published—"godless," "full of abominations," "a book forged in hell . . . by the devil himself." Religious and secular authorities saw it as a threat to faith, social and political harmony, and everyday morality, and its author was almost universally regarded as a religious subversive and political radical who sought to spread atheism throughout Europe. Yet Spinoza's book has contributed as much as the Declaration of Independence or Thomas Paine's Common Sense to modern liberal, secular, and democratic thinking. In A Book Forged in Hell, Steven Nadler tells the fascinating story of this extraordinary book: its radical claims and their background in the philosophical, religious, and political tensions of the Dutch Golden Age, as well as the vitriolic reaction these ideas inspired.

It is not hard to see why Spinoza's Treatise was so important or so controversial, or why the uproar it caused is one of the most significant events in European intellectual history. In the book, Spinoza became the first to argue that the Bible is not literally the word of God but rather a work of human literature; that true religion has nothing to do with theology, liturgical ceremonies, or sectarian dogma; and that religious authorities should have no role in governing a modern state. He also denied the reality of miracles and divine providence, reinterpreted the nature of prophecy, and made an eloquent plea for toleration and democracy.

A vivid story of incendiary ideas and vicious backlash, A Book Forged in Hell will interest anyone who is curious about the origin of some of our most cherished modern beliefs.

Print length

300 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Princeton University Press
Publication date

September 19, 2011
File size

2101 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Steven Nadler's knowledge of the many influences acting on Spinoza is profound. He is as sensitive to Spinoza's reactions to Descartes and Maimonides as to the philosopher's fears of the conservative religious forces that were threatening the Dutch Republic of his day. The wide context that Nadler provides makes for a reading of Spinoza's treatise which is unfailingly rich, nuanced, and illuminating."―Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity

"If there is a single theme that runs throughout Spinoza's writings, Steven Nadler says, 'it is the liberation from bondage, whether psychological, political, or religious.' Spinoza's importance as a philosopher―maybe as the philosopher of modernity―hinges on that. This Amsterdam Jew was one of the grandest and boldest mold-breakers of all time. Nadler gives us a clean, crisp, indispensable account of what made Spinoza's Treatise so revolutionary."―Russell Shorto, author of Descartes' Bones

"A Book Forged in Hell is more than just an excellent and highly readable introduction to one of the most important texts of philosophy and political thought. Steven Nadler provides an eloquent portrait of Spinoza's Treatise, placing it firmly in its historical, religious, political, and philosophical setting."―Jonathan Israel, author of A Revolution of the Mind: Radical Enlightenment and the Intellectual Origins of Modern Democracy

"This is an excellent book. Steven Nadler's wonderfully elegant and fluid writing style makes difficult ideas accessible and exciting without watering them down. A prime virtue of the book is that it provides just enough biographical and historical background to make the philosophy come alive and to reveal what a dramatic work Spinoza's Treatise is."―Michael Della Rocca, Yale University --This text refers to the paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

"If there is a single theme that runs throughout Spinoza's writings, Steven Nadler says, 'it is the liberation from bondage, whether psychological, political, or religious.' Spinoza's importance as a philosopher--maybe as the philosopher of modernity--hinges on that. This Amsterdam Jew was one of the grandest and boldest mold-breakers of all time. Nadler gives us a clean, crisp, indispensible account of what made Spinoza's Treatise so revolutionary."--Russell Shorto, author of Descartes' Bones

"A Book Forged in Hell is more than just an excellent and highly readable introduction to one of the most important texts of philosophy and political thought. Steven Nadler provides an eloquent portrait of Spinoza's treatise, placing it firmly in its historical, religious, political, and philosophical setting."--Jonathan Israel, author of A Revolution of the Mind: Radical Enlightenment and the Intellectual Origins of Modern Democracy

"This is an excellent book. Steven Nadler's wonderfully elegant and fluid writing style makes difficult ideas accessible and exciting without watering them down. A prime virtue of the book is that it provides just enough biographical and historical background to make the philosophy come alive and to reveal what a dramatic work Spinoza's treatise is."--Michael Della Rocca, Yale University

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

Honorable Mention for the 2011 PROSE Award in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

<em>Steven Nadler</em> is the William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include Rembrandt’s Jews, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Spinoza: A Life, which won the Koret Jewish Book Award; and The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosophers, God, and Evil in the Age of Reason (Princeton). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005DXOQPY
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press (September 19, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 19, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2101 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #448,794 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #53 in History of Protestantism
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- #114 in History of Catholicism

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188 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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john1411

Very disappointing.

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2020

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I made it about halfway through this book before I just couldn’t take it any more. The book has the choppy feel of a series of poorly written Wikipedia pages. Because this author has written other books about Spinoza, I had hoped to learn something new about one of my favorite early modern philosophers. However, this author seems to have a very different take on Spinoza than other authors I’ve read. I get the impression that this author wants to recreate—and reimagine—Spinoza into the authors own image, so to speak. Or, perhaps, this author has gotten it right where everyone else is wrong. I certainly don’t think so. Based on everything I’ve ever read about Spinoza, I think it is a certainty that if he were alive today he would a grinning atheist. Spinoza killed God. In a time when you could be ruined, imprisoned, or even murdered for being a nonbeliever, Spinoza found a way to marginalize God unto nothingness without having to openly admit his contempt for the very idea of God. It baffles me that any educated person could read the works of Spinoza and still insist that Spinoza was in some way a believer of any sort. I can just imagine Spinoza on his death bed, laughing out loud at the feat he accomplished.

8 people found this helpful

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Stephen M. Kerwick

Five Stars Plus

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2015

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I'm in my early 60s and I don't want to be hyperbolic, but this is one of the half-dozen most worthwhile books I've read in my life. Spinoza's thought is as heavy and complex as it is true and finding a text that gets it across reasonably priced easily is no mean task. Leo Strauss's Spinoza's Critique of Religion is very good, but I was more than 3 weeks in getting through it in my leisure reading time. Nadler's is far more approachable, but no less thoughtful. Anyone desiring a background understanding of the enlightened ideas in our First Amendment, particularly freedom from religious establishment should-- indeed must read this wonderful book. In the face of lethal religious fundamentalists -- Mohammedan, Christian or otherwise, rational and intelligent citizens should realize that Spinoza is our redeemer and Nadler is a pretty good prophet.

52 people found this helpful

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Rick J. Strassman

Rigorous, entertaining, accessible, timely, and necessary

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2016

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Nowadays, when politicians lead with their religion, and clerics and the otherwise "religious" meddle in secular life, Spinoza's "Tractatus Theologico-Politicus" is as timely now as it was 250 years ago. Like Spinoza’s book, Nadler’s requires slow and careful reading. The patient and persistent reader, however, is similarly rewarded. There are three outstanding features I would like to mention. First, Nadler’s cogent introductory summary of Spinoza’s “Ethics” is extremely valuable because it places in context the latter’s notions of God, virtue, and in particular Spinoza’s views of Nature (as a proper noun), Thought (mental activity), and Extension (materiality). From these fundamental categories of reality, Spinoza develops his ideas of God, psychology, cause and effect, the virtuous life (which leads to blessedness or salvation). Second, Nadler repeats many of the basic ideas contained in the TTP throughout his book in a way that I found quite useful. This allows us to see Spinoza’s basic tenets stand out in bold relief in a variety of different contexts; e.g., the Bible as a work of man; the necessity of the separation of church and state (and, the regulation of public worship and piety [but not belief, opinions, or verbal/written expression of them] by secular authorities in order to maintain social stability); the necessary beliefs leading to a "national religion" that leads to a polity that is peaceful, virtuous, and flourishing; and the relationship (or lack thereof) between theology and philosophy/science. Finally, Nadler provides us some valuable and entertaining, expert, and insightful breathing room with a behind the scenes account of the political, social, historical, theological, philosophical and cultural forces swirling around Spinoza and throughout early modern Europe, in particular Amsterdam and the Dutch States.

23 people found this helpful

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Robert J. Crawford

elucidation of a philosophical treastise as precursor to secularism

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2019

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This is an interesting philosophy book that is also a good read. Nadler concentrates on Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise as paving the way for secularism, even though he was not entirely modern by the standards of today. The ideas he entertained were "in the air" at the time. What he did was not only to put them in a logical argument, but also to push them farther than others had dared.

First, he denied the divinity of the Bible, arguing instead that it was a book written by men to address problems specific to their time, hence limited in its applicability. As such, it should be studied as a literary and historical document and most certainly was not the infallible word of God. He also questioned the motives of the learned men who wished to wield "the word" for their own purposes, interpreting the Bible in order to fit their own agendas. All of this was scandalously bold for its time, perhaps only possible to appear in the tolerant culture of early Enlightenment Holland. However, it also took great courage, as an intimate friend of Spinoza was imprisoned for advocating similar views and died in custody.

Second, Spinoza identified God not as an anthropomorphic being that intervened "to set things right", but as nature itself, inseparable from necessity and immutable. Since God was all powerful in this formulation, everything occurred for a reason and was foreordained, there was nothing wrong that needed correction, however unfair the results may have appeared to those who suffered. Among other things, this meant that there were no miracles, no autonomous force of evil as embodied in the devil, etc. Not even prophets and their revelations were of exceptional or metaphysical value. Again, radical notions that threatened many, including denunciations from those Spinoza had assumed would support him.

Third, he argued, the value of religion was to be found in a kind of popular presentation of a moral code, which could be arrived at just as well by reason alone, particularly by the educated. In his schema, the highest moral achievement was to live by reason rather than passion; to understand nature was to achieve harmony with God. (He had an extremely negative idea of organized religion, preferring a spiritual journey of the individual mind.) This was both a precursor to deism and the separation of church and state.

However, Nadler is very clear that Spinoza did not hold the views of the writer of, say, the American Declaration of Independence. According to Spinoza, the sovereign executive was responsible for the maintenance of peace and security. To do so, he was mandated to preside over religious matters, eliminating dissent when it threatened the status quo. There were also right and wrong answers that could be arrived at by reason, rather than differing points of view and interests that might be equally valid.

This is a wonderful and dense reasoning experience, opening onto a world of the early Enlightenment. I would have wanted a bit more context, in particular much more on how Spinoza differentiated himself from those with similar ideas. But all in all, highly recommended.

7 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

gcX

Good introduction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2013

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If you are looking for an introduction to the great philosopher,
this very readable book will do. For, although the theme is the
"Theological-political treatise", the philosophical framework given (re: Spinoza
masterpiece, "Ethics" in particular), in addition to the historical one,
is very clearly spelled out.

11 people found this helpful

Robert

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2017

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Very good, clear and informative. Very good read while studying the Tractatus.

Marek Sobolewski

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2017

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pity that the type is very small

One person found this helpful

Monty Shnier

This book is of great value for those wanting to learn something of Spinoza's ...

Reviewed in Australia on May 9, 2016

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This book is of great value for those wanting to learn something of Spinoza's life, philosophies and theories. It is a scholastic treatise and seems well researched .It is not recommended for the light-hearted or for those looking for an easy and entertaining read. For those serious readers I found that the book needs time to fully understand the theories Spinoza enunciated; It also allows one to appreciate why he was regarded as one of the greatest, but controversial philosophers in Europe.
In summary it is well worth the read and leaves the reader with a better understanding of religious life in Holland during the 17th century..
I found that it left me with the feeling that I will explore further into Spinoza's life and times.

One person found this helpful

sangram singh

Enlightening but limited in its purview

Reviewed in India on December 27, 2021

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A good book, but what was ignored i feel was the theodicy of Spinoza. If everthing is determined and fated by the laws of nature, which is God, how does one explain away evil and suffering? Did Spinoza give adequate attention to this aspect? It's not clear after this reading this book.

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