Theologico-Political Treatise is the only work of Baruch Spinoza’s original philosophy published during his lifetime. The work has three purposes: to defend and bolster religious tolerance, to make a plea for freedom of thought and democracy, and to offer a new approach to the study and interpretation of the Bible and to its political uses. Despite the author’s attempt to disguise its origin—it was published in 1670 anonymously and with a false city of publication—the Treatise was quickly attributed to Spinoza and became a sensation. It was widely vilified, considered an illegal publication, and quickly put under local censorship and suppression. Nevertheless, unlike other banned books, the Theologico-Political Treatise spread like wildfire all over Europe and numerous copies of it in various European language translations were found in libraries from Britain and all over Europe.
