Spinoza's Ceremonies: Retaining the Appearance of Ancient Ways

Spinoza’s Political Treatise contains some of his clearest statements on the institution of a national religion. Spinoza envisioned his national religion as a universal religion, not a sectarian religion. The highest pursuit of the national religion would be the intellectual love of God, demonstrated through justice and charity, and the national religion would not require belief in historical narratives or the practice of ceremonial rites to achieve blessedness. Following in the Erastian tradition of Hobbes and Grotius, Spinoza thought that the patricians of an aristocratic government should oversee and interpret the national religion. Spinoza depicts the patricians similar to priests: he assigns them particular clothing and titles and advises that they baptize, solemnize marriages, ordain, excommunicate, and administer alms. Given that Spinoza does not consider ceremonies necessary for blessedness, his use of overtly Christian ceremonies and terminology in relation to the national religion seems puzzling. However, Spinoza’s aims can be clarified by connecting his ideas with the work of Machiavelli, who emphasizes that one wanting to reform a government should retain the appearance of ancient customs and institutions even if the new structure is entirely different. In line with Machiavelli’s thought, Spinoza hoped to feign continuity with Christian institutions and ceremonies although his ideas were fundamentally at odds with Christianity. Reading Spinoza in context with Machiavelli’s writing not only clarifies the reason behind his use of ceremonies in the national religion but also illuminates some of the motivations behind his entire philosophical project.