What God might say, according to Spinoza

The following post turned up in my Facebook feed yesterday. Based on my understanding of Spinoza, I have some doubts that this really reflects his perspective on God, but it might. 

Regardless, I liked what Jillenne Moore shared in her post. (I'm assuming that Moore wrote it.)

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.”

Comments

[Ron Krumpos]

Love it...LOL

[S]

“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.”

Many teachers tell students to stop complicating things. But I think the natural way of learning is to dissect an issue and then put it back together. Complicating and simplifying matters are just tools to fully understand a subject more thoroughly.

Some teachers are simply burned out. And I get that. I just graded 3 papers for a class. The first one was a mess but I was excited to encourage the student so I spent a lot of time carefully giving feedback. The second paper was even worse and I had to put even more time into writing feedback. By the time I got to the third I understood why so many teachers seem harsh—it takes a lot of patience to keep helping people who don’t follow instructions. Third paper was a little better than the first two but still missed the mark. I started getting annoyed because the more they failed to follow instructions, the more work I had to do to try and teach them what they should have already know.

I guess my point is, teaching in any capacity requires a tremendous amount of patience. It’s interesting that I’m the Bible in Corinthians when it explains what love is, the first word used to describe love is patience.

There’s nothing wrong with analyzing and dissecting a concept if it helps you have a deeper understanding. Oversimplifying can be dangerous and lead people to make hasty decisions, commit to things they shouldn’t and blindly follow a dead end.

Life is a journey. The soul can’t make any progress if the mind is in opposition so one needs a teacher that has patience.

What I learned from this experience is that I really need to develop patience. I certainly wasn’t born to be a teacher or a nurse or the parent of a teenager, but I can try to be a little more loving and patient. The world doesn’t feel alive when we don’t feel love. I guess patience is no longer a virtue in modern day society. So it takes more effort.

[S]

*in the Bible... 1 Corinthians 13:4

[271]

You see, you don't have to be an atheist to have an intelligent perspective.

[Sonia]

There’s this really brilliant book written about how modern science explains the way of the mystic. Not sure who wrote it but it’s called ‘God's Whisper, Creation's Thunder: Echoes of Spiritual Reality In the New Physics’.

To me it shows that science and mysticism aren’t in conflict, they are just different languages.

[Rev Jim Bob]

Dear spinoza’s god what kind of sick puppy creates a universe where each of us exists in an eye-blink of time, a large part of which is consumed by ailments and suffering, where our actions are meaningless and where we have to watch our loved ones die and vice versa.

Some might argue that being torn from love in an existence without an afterlife (where one cannot reunite with loved ones or love itself) is the very definition of cruelty and meaninglessness.

What does spinoza’s god have to say of a young child who dies early suffering from a terrible disease. Their entire life knowing only suffering. How would that child view spinoza’s god or how would any parent take any hope or consolation from such an experience?

If spinoza’s god is the natural world of eat or be eaten, of nature red in tooth and claw - why should we have love or empathy or behave in any way other than pure self interest?

[271]

Dear Jim Bob,
You have put your finger on one of the greatest challenges. How to have an up without a down. A back without a front. A white without a black. A full without an empty. A warm without a cold. A happy without a sad.
Haven't figure that out yet.

Rest assured you are spirit and nothing real was ever harmed or threatened.

—Spinoza’s God.

[S]

Dear Jim Bob,
You have put your finger on one of the greatest challenges. How to have an up without a down. A back without a front. A white without a black. A full without an empty. A warm without a cold. A happy without a sad.
Haven't figure that out yet.

Rest assured you are spirit and nothing real was ever harmed or threatened.

—Spinoza’s God.

Posted by: 271 | November 27, 2020 at 10:57 PM

Very true. Not sure if Rev. Bob agrees.
But I would imagine losing a child or watching your child suffer is probably the most difficult challenge of all. Gut wrenchingly painful.

Children fall into a different category so I’m not referring to them when I say this...

Over the years when a friend or family member dies it’s sad at first but then it’s like this window to heaven opens and you feel this sense of peace. From my personal experience there were only 3 exceptions to this rule and it felt like they just weren’t moving on for one reason or another. One most likely because they committed suicide and the other two because they were so attached to the people they left behind.

Anyway, a lot of times after someone you love dies there is this “window to heaven” that opens for a little while which gives you this sort of peace that surpasses understanding. It helps you heal and get through the grieving process. It’s strange. Not sure if everyone experiences it.

[Oregano]

More great Spinoza quotes

"I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them"

"We feel and know that we are eternal"

"Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many."

"Speculation, like nature, abhors a vacuum"

[S]

I’m ready for a new post. 🙂 Especially if you can write one about raising teenagers without losing your sanity.