Baruch Spinoza's view on Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Spinoza, known as a One of the great philosophers of the Enlightenment and the Rationalists when asked about Jesus once said ....
"I do not think it necessary for Salvation to know Christ according to the flesh : but with regard to the Eternal Son of God, that is the Eternal Wisdom of God, which has manifested itself in all things and especially in the human mind, and above all in Christ Jesus, the case is far otherwise. For without this no one can come to a state of blessedness, inasmuch as it alone teaches, what is true or false, good or evil.
And, inasmuch as this wisdom was made especially manifest through Jesus Christ, as I have said, his disciples preached it, in so far as it was revealed to them through him, and thus showed that they could rejoice in that spirit of Christ more than the rest of mankind.
The doctrines added by certain churches, such as that God took upon himself human nature, I have expressly said that I do not understand; in fact, to speak the truth, they seem to me no less absurd than would a statement, that a circle had taken upon itself the nature of a square. This I think will be sufficient explanation of my opinions concerning the three points mentioned. Whether it will be satisfactory to Christians you will know better than I. Letter 21 (73) to Henry Oldenburg , November (1675)
Variant translation: The eternal wisdom of God … has shown itself forth in all things, but chiefly in the mind of man, and most of all in Jesus Christ.
..... My opinion concerning God differs widely from that which is ordinarily defended by modern Christians. For I hold that God is of all things the cause immanent, as the phrase is, not transient. I say that all things are in God and move in God, thus agreeing with Paul, and, perhaps, with all the ancient philosophers, though the phraseology may be different ; I will even venture to affirm that I agree with all the ancient Hebrews, in so far as one may judge from their traditions, though these are in many ways corrupted.
The supposition of some, that I endeavour to prove in the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus the unity of God and Nature (meaning by the latter a certain mass or corporeal matter), is wholly erroneous. As regards miracles, I am of opinion that the revelation of God can only be established by the wisdom of the doctrine, not by miracles, or in other words by ignorance. Letter 21 to Henry Oldenburg , November (1675)
Offgrid, you delved into history, a subject I love, to share this interesting point of view. It sparks a good conversation. This man Spinoza sounds extremely intelligent, and he very well may be on certain topics, but by his own words he confesses some ignorance on the topic of the incarnation of Jesus Christ (that is, knowing Him according to the flesh) and he exhibits it as well. The New Testament itself states that Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah) did come according to the flesh in countless verses. Here's just a few of them, off the top of my head...
--John 1:14 The Word (the Divine Logos) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
--The genealogy of Jesus as recorded in Matthew and Luke is written so that we would know that although He had no earthly father, He did have an earthly mother (and was adopted in a sense by Joseph)
--but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.(Philipians 2:7)
--and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. (I John 4:13)
Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. Not half and half. Some deny one or the other, or both, and it is equally bad to deny either.
Jesus said this--harsh words, but He said it, originally in context to the Jewish leaders who refused to believe He was the Son of God, but it applies to us today as well: "That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)
But to leave off on a more optimistic note, Jesus also said, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17) So if we recognize our sin, our need for a savior, and believe Jesus is who He claimed to be, putting our trust in Him for salvation, we will be saved. And that is what God wants!
Yes ... Spinoza was a genius. Given his Concept and Understanding of the Oneness of God I do believe that he understands that Jesus is God. I especially like his concept that God is Infinite and Everything.