  At one point Spinoza calls the task of establishing the separation of faith from philosophy “the principal purpose of the whole work” (TTP 14/179). And a good deal of the biblical criticism in the TTP can be understood as paving the way for the separation thesis, since in the earlier chapters much of what Spinoza is doing is undermining the claim of Scripture as a source of genuine knowledge. The value of Scripture does not lie in its mysteries or its abstruse metaphysical content, since to the extent that it is concerned with these matters it is—by Spinoza’s lights—utterly confused. Rather, it lies in the simple moral truths that Scripture contains, which encourage obedience to the state (Ch. 13). The books of Scripture are written for an unsophisticated, uneducated audience and convey information in a way that is suited to such an audience, in the form of fantastical accounts and parables that appeal to the imagination rather than the intellect. And so, Spinoza argues, although Scripture may appear to reveal profound truths about God’s nature and his participation in our world, its salient message is not metaphysical, but moral: “Scripture requires nothing of men other than obedience, and condemns not ignorance, but disobedience” (TTP 13/173). The ethical message of loving God and loving one’s neighbor is the backbone of all religion (Ch. 12), the whole of divine law (TTP 14/178).