ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters have emphasized the radical Protestant dimension of Spinoza's religious thought. Collegiants were Spinoza's closest friends and their religious views were clearly congenial to him. In his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus Spinoza achieved the simplification of Christian dogma they aimed at. In keeping with broader Reformation ideals Spinoza is dismissive of tradition, viewing Scripture alone as essential to the Catholic Faith and proposing a new hermeneutic for the proper understanding of it.
