ABSTRACT
The development of Jewish thought during the Enlightenment stemmed from seventeenth-century Holland. There various Jewish thinkers attempted to interpret the Jewish tradition in the light of scientific advances. In the seventeenth century Uriel Acosta maintained that the Torah was not of divine origin because it contained features contrary to natural law. In the same century Baruch Spinoza published a treatise (Tractatus Theologico Politicus) in which he argued that the prophets possessed moral insight rather than theoretical truth. Rejecting the Maimonidean conviction that Scripture contained a hidden meaning, Spinoza argued that the Bible was intended for the masses. According to Spinoza, God is depicted in Scripture as a lawgiver in order to appeal to the multitude. He believed that the Torah was not composed in its entirety by Moses; instead the historical books were compilations assembled by many generations.
