Spinoza

“ The story of how the gentle but firm Spinoza followed his conscience to the point [of excommunication] has never been better told.” — Journal of the American Academy of Religion   A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenment, Baruch Spinoza made significant contributions in virtually every area of philosophy, and his writings reveal the influence of such divergent sources as Stoicism, Jewish Rationalism, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Descartes, and a variety of heterodox religious thinkers of his day.