  The TTP contains a good deal of what has come to be known as biblical criticism. Through careful linguistic and historical exegesis Spinoza identifies numerous textual inconsistencies, which, with some philosophical buttressing, lead Spinoza to deny the exalted status of prophets, the objective reality of miracles, and ultimately the divine origin of the Pentateuch. The broad features of his critique are vital to our understanding of Spinoza’s response to the “theologico-political problem” (Smith 1997) that plagued the Dutch Republic. (For two recent first-rate monographs on the TTP that situate Spinoza’s critique of Scripture in historical context, see Nadler 2011 and James 2012)