title: Spinoza's Critique of Religion
author:  Leo Strauss 
description: Text: English (translation)<br /> Original Language: German
zlib_text: Graeme Hunter
  Radical Protestantism
  in Spinoza’s Thought
  
  RADICAL PROTESTANTISM 
  IN SPINOZA’S THOUGHT
  Spinoza is praised as a father of atheism, a precursor of the Enlightenment, 
  an ‘anti-theologian’ and a father of political liberalism. When the religious 
  dimension of Spinoza’s thought cannot be ignored, it is usually dismissed as 
  some form of mysticism or pantheism.
  This book explores the positive references to Christianity presented through 
  out Spinoza’s works, focusing particularly on the Tractatus Theologico 
  politicus. Arguing that advocates of the anti-Christian or un-Christian Spinoza 
  fail to look beyond Spinoza’s Ethics, which has the least to say about 
  Christianity, Graeme Hunter offers a fresh interpretation of Spinoza’s most 
  important works and his philosophical and religious thought. While there is no 
  evidence that Spinoza became a Christian in any formal sense, Hunter argues 
  that his aim was neither to be heretical nor atheistic, but rather to effect 
  a radical r