Today I remembered one of my favorite things related to history of philosophy and the biographies of authors in general. This is the letter Baruch de Spinoza, dutch philosopher (who was also half jew, portuguese and spanish), received when he was expelled from the Jewish community in Netherlands.
The Lords of the Ma’amad (i.e. the governing body of six parnassim and the gabbai) announce that:
Having long known of the evil and wrongful opinions and acts of Baruch de Spinoza, they have endeavored by various means and promises, to turn him from his evil ways. But having failed to make him mend his wicked ways, and, on the contrary, daily receiving more and more serious information about the abominable heresies which he practiced and taught and about his monstrous deeds, and having for this numerous trustworthy witnesses who have deposed and born witness to this effect in the presence of the said Espinoza, they became convinced of the truth of this matter; and after all of this has been investigated in the presence of the honorable hakhamim, they have decided, with their consent, that the said Espinoza should be excommunicated and expelled from the people of Israel…
And now for the good part:
By decree of the angels and by the command of the holy men, we excommunicate, expel, curse and damn Baruch de Spinoza, with the consent of God, Blessed be He, and with the consent of the entire holy congregation, and in front of these holy scrolls with the 613 precepts which are written therein; cursing him with the excommunication with which Joshua banned Jericho and with the curse which Elisha cursed the boys and with all the castigations which are written in the Book of the Law. Cursed be he by day and cursed be he by night; cursed be he when he lies down and cursed be he when he rises up. Cursed be he when he goes out and cursed be he when he comes in. The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven. And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law. But you that cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.
“That no one should communicate with him neither in writing nor accord him any favor nor stay with him under the same roof nor within four cubits in his vicinity; nor shall he read any treatise composed or written by him.”
Spinoza became notorious for his materialistic and immanentist stances with regards to the world and god in general. He wasn’t an atheist by any means (which makes the whole letter more amusing) but he was dangerously close. He basically defended that god and nature were the same (he often used the formula Deus sive Natura which translates as “god born from nature”). To him god meant the same as saying the universe, the laws of the cosmos, etc. That means he didn’t believe in god as a personified entity with an agenda or will of its own, but rather that nature and all life was divine on its own.
Personally I think it would be awesome if I manage to make anyone this mad in my whole life lol
