CLEP Western Civ II

Answer: D - Spinoza argued that God was indistinct from nature and did not have consciousness. He challenged the religious underpinnings of traditional religious authority, such as the divine origin of scripture and received tradition. Because his philosophy was perceived as atheism, he was at odds with both Jewish and Christian religious leaders. Spinoza also derived a code of ethics based more on reason than religious principles, further alienating him from religious society. He was one of the most important rationalists of the 17^th century and was one of the first to use reason to conclusively separate the world from religion. In many ways he laid the philosophical underpinnings for separation of church and state, and the emergence of modern secular society.