What was Spinoza’s God like and why did Einstein believe in him?

The spirituality and theories of this philosopher have seduced many people for centuries.

What are we? why are we here? does existence itself make sense? how, where and when did the universe originate? These and other questions have aroused the curiosity of human beings since ancient times, who have tried to offer different types of explanations, such as those coming from religion and science.

The philosopher Baruch Spinoza, for example, created a philosophical theory that served as one of the religious references that have most influenced Western thought since the 17th century. In this article we will see what Spinoza's God was like and how this thinker lived spirituality.

The scientific and the religious

Science and religion. Both concepts have been continuously confronted throughout history. One of the issues on which they have clashed the most is the existence of God or different gods that hypothetically have created and regulate nature and existence in general.

Many scientists have considered the belief in a superior entity to be an unrealistic way of explaining reality. an unrealistic way of explaining reality.. However, this does not imply that scientists cannot have their own religious beliefs.

Some great figures in history have even maintained the existence of God, but not as a personal entity that exists outside the world. This is the case of the renowned philosopher Baruch de Spinoza and his conception of God, which has subsequently been followed by renowned scientists such as Albert Einstein.

Spinoza's God

Baruch de Spinoza was born in Amsterdam in 1632.He has been considered one of the three greatest rationalist philosophers of the 17th century. His reflections were a profound critique of the classical and orthodox vision of religion, which led to his excommunication by his community and his banishment, as well as the prohibition and censorship of his writings.

His vision of the world and of faith is very close to pantheism, that is, the idea that the sacred is all of nature itself.

Reality according to this thinker

The ideas defended by Spinoza were based on the idea that reality is made up of one reality is made up of a single substanceThe ideas defended by Spinoza were based on the idea that reality is made up of a single substance, contrary to René Descartes, who defended the existence of the res cogitans and the res extensa. And this substance is none other than God, an infinite entity with multiple properties and dimensions of which we can only know a part.

Thus, thought and matter are only expressed dimensions of such substance or modes, and all that surrounds us, including ourselves, are parts that make up the divine in the same way.. Spinoza believed that the soul is not something exclusive to the human mind, but that it permeates everything: stones, trees, landscapes, etc.

Thus, from the point of view of this philosopher what we usually attribute to the extracorporeal and the divine is the same thing as the material; it is not part of parallel logics.

Spinoza and his concept of divinity

God is conceptualized not as a personal and personified entity that directs existence externally to it, but as the whole of all that exists, which expresses itself both in extension and in thought. In other words, God is considered to be reality itselfwhich expresses itself through nature. This would be one of the particular forms in which God expresses himself.

Spinoza's God would not give a finality to the world, but that it is a part of him. He is considered to be naturing nature, that is, that which is and gives rise to different modes or natured natures, such as thought or matter. In synthesis, for Spinoza God is everything and outside of him nothing exists.

Man and morality

This thinking leads this thinker to say that God does not need to be worshipped nor establish a moral system, this being a product of man.This being a product of man. There are neither bad nor good acts per se, these concepts being mere elaborations.

Spinoza's conception of man is deterministic: he does not consider the existence of free will as such.Spinoza's conception of man is deterministic: he does not consider the existence of free will as such, since everything is part of the same substance and nothing exists outside of it. Thus, for him freedom is based on reason and understanding of reality.

Spinoza also considered that there is no mind-body dualismbut that they were one and the same indivisible element. He also did not consider the idea of transcendence in which soul and body are separated, being important what is lived in life.

Einstein and his beliefs

Spinoza's beliefs earned him the disapproval of his people, excommunication and censorship. However, his ideas and works remained and were accepted and appreciated by a great number of people throughout history. One of them was one of the most valued scientists of all times, Albert Einstein, the father of the theory of relativity..

The father of the theory of relativity had religious interests in childhood, although these interests were later modified throughout his life. Despite the apparent conflict between science and faith, in some interviews Einstein would express his difficulty in answering the question of whether he believed in the existence of God. Although he did not share the idea of a personal God, he stated that he considered that the human mind is not capable of understanding the totality of the universe or how it is organized. is not capable of understanding the totality of the universe and how it is organized, even though it is capable of perceiving the universe as a whole.He was able to perceive the existence of a certain order and harmony.

Although he was often classified as a convinced atheist, Albert Einstein's spirituality was closer to that of an agnosticism. was closer to a pantheistic agnosticism.. In fact, he would criticize fanaticism on the part of both believers and atheists. The winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics would also reflect that his religious stance and beliefs were closer to Spinoza's view of God, as something that does not direct and punish us but simply forms part of everything and manifests itself through this everything. For him, the laws of nature existed and provided a certain order in the chaos, manifesting the divinity in harmony.

He also believed that science and religion are not necessarily at odds with each other, since both pursue the search for and understanding of reality. Moreover, both attempts to explain the world mutually stimulate each other.