3 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Swiss-Dutch Arminian (Remonstrant) theologian and biblical critic who applied humanist philological methods to scripture and published learned theological journals, disseminating Enlightenment ideas.
French Protestant philosopher and exile who produced the Historical and Critical Dictionary — a massive encyclopedia of errors with skeptical footnotes — and argued for religious toleration as a rational and moral necessity.
Spinoza's 1670 treatise — published anonymously — arguing for freedom of thought and expression, using biblical criticism to show that Scripture was written by humans for human purposes, and that the only legitimate purpose of religion is to promote justice and charity, not metaphysical doctrine.