The God of Spinoza

[BoSoxGal]

I found this online and it was not attributed.

When Einstein gave lectures at U.S. universities, the question 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.

According to Spinoza, God would say: “Stop praying. I want you to 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 that others 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, and best of all, free will. Why would I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How could 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 give what you don't want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life—alertness is your guide.
My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, not 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. It’s you who creates heaven or hell.

“Live as if there is nothing beyond this life, as if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist. Then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is an afterlife, 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 with 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 parrot what you've been taught about me. Why do you need more miracles? So many explanations?

“The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders.”

I could get down with such a god.

[MajGenl.Meade]

That Spinoza! What a dude! Two centuries ahead of his time using "egomaniac" in a sentence. "Tuck in" - so redolent of the mid-1600s parents. Can this be the same guy who wrote the Political Treatise that highlighted the unsuitability of women to hold political power? No, this is from a random 21st century inadequately educated person attempting to explain Spinoza's pantheism while grinding a biased ax.

Interesting philosopher, Spinoza. And definitely not the author of the dross quoted as if they were his actual words. For one thing, he understood Jewish and Christian sources too well to attribute such inaccurate statements as descriptive of their theologies.

When asked by the prominent American Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein if Einstein believed in God in a telegram dated April 25, 1929, he responded that he followed a different doctrine.

“I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind,” Einstein replied.

[BoSoxGal]

Well to be fair, I think that piece is meant to be quoting Einstein's description of Spinoza's God, and the term egomaniac has been in usage since 1890 so it certainly wouldn't be out of Einstein's wheelhouse, considering that Einstein and Freud engaged in lengthy correspondence.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well, I think you're correct that it wasn't Spinoza's words - despite the quotation marks. But I also challenge that those were Einstein's words. He never gave such a speech or answer.

It's a 7th grade dropout who wrote it - probably the same kind of person who sends out rubbish about Aunt Jemima and the origin of the word POSH.

[Burning Petard]

OK I admit my ignorance. I know nothing about Spinoza. The wikipedia entry looks interesting. Amazon has various editions of a translation that goes back to beginning of last century. Anybody recommend a commentary that might be more recent and in a good public library? What is in Amazon is pricey.
snailgate.

[Big RR]

Drawing on my philosophy courses over 50 years ago, I believe Spinoza described god as the infinite natural force that exists at the base of all and acts as it must act. God is part of everything, and everything is a part of god, but he saw god as constrained to act within the natural world as the natural world demands. I do not that he conceived of god as acting or existing outside of or apart from the universe, and I do think he equated god with what we call nature. He also rejected any attempt to humanize god or give god human emotions or explain god's actions that way. Perhaps some who have studied philosophy more could expand on this.

Personally, I have a problem with squaring this view of god with Einstein's concern that god doesn't throw dice; he presented a lot of evidence of a stochastic universe, and then was concerned that the universe that operated that way because he could not conceive that god acted that way. Perhaps he is making it simpler for the general public to understand, but if he truly believed in a god the way Spinoza described, I cannot understand the concern.