226 / 298
Horst Steinke
226
in «Journal of the History of Ideas», 70, 2009, 3, pp. 491-510, p. 499; italics
added). In the standard work on the history of biblical criticism by H.-J.
Kraus, the theoretical aspects are highlighted (italics original): «
Als erster
entdeckt Spinoza jedenfalls die literarhistorische Problematik in der alttestamentlichen For-
schung.
[…]
Die Prinzipien einer historisch-kritischen Hermeneutik werden bei Spinoza
zum ersten Male formuliert
(
In any case, Spinoza is the first to discover the literary-
historical problematics in Old Testament studies.
[…]
The principles of a historical-critical
hermeneutics are formulated for the first time by Spinoza
)» (Id.,
Geschichte der historisch-
kritischen Erforschung des Alten Testaments von der Reformation bis zur Gegenwart
,
Neukirchen Kreis Moers, Verlag der Buchhandlung des Erziehungsvereins,
1956, pp. 56-57). Despite the pivotal historical importance accorded to Spino-
za, no indication is given with respect to the (internal) logical place of Spino-
za’s hermeneutics in his philosophical superstructure or space.
415
Without claiming bibliographical completeness or representativeness,
the following commentaries deserve to be singled out: H. Graf Reventlow,
History of Biblical Interpretation
, vol 4:
From the Enlightenment to the Twentieth Centu-
ry
, trans. by L. G. Perdue, Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2010, pp. 89-
110 (originally published in German as
Epochen der Bibelauslegung
, Band IV:
Von
der Aufklärung bis zum 20. Jahrhundert
, Munich, C. H. Beck, 2001; the prior
three volumes are vol. 1:
From the Old Testament to Origen
,
2009, vol. 2:
From
Late Antiquity to the End of the Middle Ages,
2009, and vol. 3: Renaissance
, Refor-
mation, Humanism,
2010
,
resp
.
, originally published in German as
Vom Alten
Testament bis Origines
,
Von der Spätantike bis zum Ausgang des Mittelalters
, and
Re-
naissance, Reformation, Humanismus
, resp., C. H. Beck, 1991-1997); D. Savan,
Spinoza: Scientist and theorist of scientific method
, in
Spinoza and the Sciences
, cit., pp.
95-123; M. Walther,
Biblische Hermeneutik und historische Erklärung
, cit., pp. 255-
285, and especially, A. Tosel,
Spinoza ou le crépuscule de la servitude. Essai sur le
Traité Théologico-Politique
, Paris, Aubier, 1984. More recently, Y. Y. Melamed
commented: «[…] it is not surprising that, with a few exceptions, the existing
literature on the
TTP
pays little attention to the metaphysical doctrine of the
book, while on the other hand, studies of Spinoza’s metaphysics commonly
make little use of the
TTP.
These complementary attitudes […] seem to be
mistaken for two reasons. First, a study of the
TTP
can tell us quite a bit
about the development of Spinoza’s metaphysical views. Second, […], on
some
metaphysical issues, Spinoza’s discussion in the
TTP
is more elaborate than
the equivalent discussion on the same topic in the
Ethics
» (Id.,
The metaphysics of
the Theological-Political Treatise
, in
Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise
:
A Critical
Guide
, ed. by Y. Y. Melamed and M. A. Rosenthal, Cambridge-New York,
Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 128-142, pp. 128-129). Due to the re-
stricted objective we set for ourselves, the history of biblical studies/criticism