Spinoza’s Distinction between Religion and Reason

Abstract

The main point that Spinoza emphasis in his religious criticism is the distinction that he made between religion and philosophy, also, this is becoming the main topic of Spinoza's book named Theological-Political Treaties. Spinoza reveals the inaccuracy of attempting to adapt religion to reason/ philosophy or to adapt reason/philosophy to religion, through the works of two prominent names, Mūsā ibn Maimūn (Moses Maimonides) and Juda ben Alpakhar, in the Jewish traditional thought.  Although these two thinkers belong to the same tradition and the same faith, they differ from each other in terms of methodology. In this study, firstly, we will examine the opinions of Ibn Maimūn and Alpakhar on the subject and subsequently, we will try to analyze the subject with consideration of Spinoza’s criticism and comments related to the subject.