Racconti storici o favole? Sul valore dell’historia sacra nel Trattato teologico-politico di Spinoza

In this essay, I analyze the various meanings of historia in the Theological-Political Treatise, and I argue that, according to Spinoza, (1) sacred, i.e. biblical, history cannot escape rational criticism, in the same way as profane history; and that (2) since many biblical historiae deal with improbable and unnatural events, such as miracles, they cannot be considered histories in a proper sense, but edifying fables for the common people or, even worse, mere fantastic stories.