Spinoza says that theology and politics are far more intertwined than one might suppose, and so he analyzes religion in the effort of discovering a better political life.
He analyzes Judaism as a representation of human religion. There are two issues: The content of the religion and the preservation of a certain faith tradition through time. He says the goal of scripture is not to detail the correct philosophical interpretation of reality, and therefore philosophy should dispense with scriptural ideas.
He argues that to attempt to understand the Bible philosophically is the same as misunderstanding it, and he says that this would darken the actual meaning of the text. Spinoza expresses his belief that the ultimate goal of religion is to make each person into a conforming, obedient person to a set of social norms.
Finally, Spinoza addresses the philosophical ideas of God presented through Judaism. He says that God is not an entity with a specific goal in mind like we are, but rather, Spinoza feels God has spoken only through the observable nature of our literal reality. He feels the Bible is a literary artwork that belongs within that domain, but he leaves his readers with a strong warning against religious fantasy and delusion, because he views those as the self-inflictions of fear and shame.
