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The God of Spinoza

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When Einstein gave lectures at U.S. universities, the recurring question that students asked him most was:

  • Do you believe in God?
    And he always answered:
  • I believe in the God of Spinoza.

Baruch de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher considered one of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, along with Descartes.

(Spinoza) : God would say:
Stop praying.
What I want you to do is go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to sing, have fun and enjoy everything I've made for you.
Stop going into those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and saying they are my house. My house is in the mountains, in the woods, rivers, lakes, beaches. That's where I live and there I express my love for you.
Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. Sex is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don't blame me for everything they made you believe.
Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can't read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in your son's eyes... you will find me in no book!
Stop asking me "will you tell me how to do my job?" Stop being so scared of me. I do not judge you or criticize you, nor get angry, or bothered. I am pure love.
Stop asking for forgiveness, there's nothing to forgive. If I made you... I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, inconsistencies... free will. How can I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How can I punish you for being the way you are, if I'm the one who made you? Do you think I could create a place to burn all my children who behave badly for the rest of eternity? What kind of god would do that?
Respect your peers and don't do what you don't want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life, that alertness is your guide.
My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, nor a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now and it is all you need.
I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record.
You are absolutely free to create in your life. Heaven or hell.
I can't tell you if there's anything after this life but I can give you a tip. Live as if there is not. As if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist.
So, if there's nothing after, then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is, rest assured that I won't ask if you behaved right or wrong, I'll ask. Did you like it? Did you have fun? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?...
Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don't want you to believe in me, I want you to believe in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your beloved, when you tuck in your little girl, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea.
Stop praising me, what kind of egomaniac God do you think I am?
I'm bored being praised. I'm tired of being thanked. Feeling grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Express your joy! That's the way to praise me.
Stop complicating things and repeating as a parakeet what you've been taught about me.
What do you need more miracles for? So many explanations?
The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders.

  • Spinoza
HippieChick58 9 Oct 11
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10 comments

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1

I hadn't really read a rich few paragraphs like this on Spinoza's views, at least not in a long time, but I've had mixed sentiments over the years when encountering these responses of Einstein.

  • I think the case can be made that Einstein did a large amount of damage throughout the world by not just giving a straight atheist answer. Or, if he did not think of himself as a full-blown atheist, then the case can be made that he did damage by not figuring it out that there isn't any sort of god. (One can read things like Spinoza's comments and conclude that the speaker had figured out that there isn't any God, but I think the case can be made that failure to make a clear unequivocal atheist statement did real damage and that the speaker could have figured out that this damage would be a result).

  • On the other hand, the case can be made that Einstein did the world a strong service, a service that some atheists would not properly appreciate, by insisting that a profession of godlessness (if that's what it is) should be accompanied by deeper more clear moral claims that show the speaker is not disavowing this world but claiming it.

Either way, as I read their points, and relating those points to my own Jewish upbringing and path to atheism, it is not surprising to me that both Spinoza and Einstein came from somewhere within Jewish upbringings of some sort (I don't know exactly how much training or constraining intellectual aspects were placed on either of them... there can of course be a wide range, just as in other religious cultures). It is I think not entirely uncommon for some of the more famous and secularly accomplished sharp thinkers within Jewish culture over the last few hundred years to edge closer, not just in their thinking but even in some of their public statements, to the precipice of godlessness in ways that would not be recognized as being as common within various parts of Christian culture.

I also think maybe the path to "coming out" as to godlessness (or sitting on the fence, or coming out to oneself but being compelled by threatening circumstances to keep some, much or all of one's lack of theism hidden) .... coming out as to godlessness and lack of belief in superstition and supernatural this-and-that in public statements may be a bit different in Judaism than in various parts of Christianity, Islam and other belief cultures, and has probably changed over the centuries, countries, events.

kmaz Level 7 Oct 17, 2020
1

Damn Spinoza wrote all that? Why arent they teaching that in schools?

1

Always loved Spinoza's unique views on Pantheism !
I am still convinced he was really an Atheist , he just could not say so for safety reasons .
Erased himself twice at least . Very fascinating person !
Thank You for posting this ! 🙋🏼♀️

Dougy Level 7 Oct 12, 2020
2

Has anyone found an authoritative source that attributes these quotes to Spinoza? It sounds more like Hedonism to me. In any case, I love the last line, "The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders."

hadit Level 1 Oct 12, 2020
2

To me at first glance it seems like lovely words, however it doesn’t say anything about to do whatever with consideration to others.

2

To think and live in a rational manner, such a breath of fresh air in a world filled with stagnant religious thoughts.

2

I'll bet this goes over well in church

twill Level 7 Oct 12, 2020

He got exiled from his Saphoric Jewish sect & family in Portugal .
Fascinating person !

3

Sounds like a decent plan to me. 😁

3

As for Einstein:
“I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvellous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavour to comprehend a portion, be it never so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature.”

Mvtt Level 7 Oct 11, 2020
12

That's what I have always said. If god is a father that would set you on fire for falling off your bike put me up for adoption.

I'm going to have to remember those words. LOL Thank you.

@DenoPenno You are most welcome!

@Holysocks, what if god is a father that would set you on fire for masturbating?

@yvilletom Charcol.

@yvilletom He should have knocked on the door.

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