214 / 298
Horst Steinke
214
the
Elements
. Earlier in the book, we argued that
Ethics
was pre-
sented in Euclidean deductive-geometrical form in order to side-
step the inadequacies of ordinary, natural language shared by all
forms of knowledge of the first kind. Now, Euclid, as the author,
and the
Elements
are apotheosized for another reason: they «are
concerned only with things exceedingly simple and perfectly in-
telligible», and as such are unconditioned/unconditional,
ergo
timeless truth
485
. This fundamental assertion is then elaborated in
a manner that makes direct parallels with the original outline of
requirements
486
to be met in the study of the biblical authors and
books: «Nor need we enquire into the author’s life, pursuits and
character, the language in which he wrote, and for whom, and
when, nor what happened to his book, nor its different readings,
nor how it came to be accepted and by what counsel»
487
. The
discussion has thus come full circle, and the initially established
parameters of biblical interpretation are now evaluated against
the standard of absolutely certain geometric-deductive logic
which is objective, and thus totally removed from historical cir-
cumstance, or vagaries and accidents of transmission
488
. In this
evaluation, we are brought by Spinoza to the realization that bib-
lical studies are not merely highly problematic in practice, but
flawed
in principle
by virtue, or perhaps rather by their inherent
vice, of having to rely on the wholly insufficient realm of the first
kind of knowledge, inadequate in the severe Spinozan sense by
its very constitution within his epistemic system. Conversely,
Spinoza’s biblical hermeneutics itself necessarily are to be con-
ceived as contingent on, as well as shaped by, his three-tiered
theory of knowledge; to do justice to Spinoza, the contents and
methodology of the former cannot be divorced from the latter.
In Spinoza’s concluding reflections
489
he circles back to key
points of the first section of his exposition, as if creating an
inclu-
sio.
The first section
490
of his exposition consisted of two key in-
terpretative guidelines, the first being «the true method of inter-
preting Scripture», by way of emulating «the method of interpret-