A Theologico-Political Treatise

A Theologico-Political Treatise is a work by Baruch Spinoza, first published in 1670, though circulated under a false imprint to shield the author and publisher. This treatise is Spinoza’s bold intervention in the debates of the Dutch Republic over the power of Scripture, state authority, and the right to free thought. Written in learned Latin, it combines biblical exegesis, philosophy of religion, and political theory in order to argue that theological claims must be subordinate to reason and that a stable state requires freedom of philosophizing, rather than dogmatic constraint.

Spinoza wrote this work in a climate of intense religious and political tension. He critiques conventional readings of prophecy, miracles, and scriptural authority, and proposes that the Bible should be interpreted by principles of reason, not faith alone. In its later chapters he turns to political philosophy: he insists that civil authority must respect freedom of speech and conscience, and he defends a moderate republican order over theocracy or arbitrary power.

Theologians of his time condemned it, but the treatise became a founding text for modern skepticism, secularism, and liberal political thought. Over subsequent centuries, it influenced Enlightenment thinkers, modern biblical criticism, and the development of the philosophy of religion and democratic theory. This translation by R. H. M. Elwes was first published in 1883.