SEPARATISTS, SPINOZA, & SCIENTISTS: The Mavericks of Intellectual Freedom

What do Separatists, Spinoza, and Scientists have in common? Is there a shared thread? Is there a mutual philosophy? Throughout the history of Western civilization, significant innovation has often come from individuals who are polymaths experienced in theology, philosophy, science, and mathematics. The cross-pollination of understanding seems to open opportunities for insight beyond the norm. Notable examples are Sir Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Michael Servetus, Rene Descartes, Sir Robert Boyle, John Locke, Baruch Spinoza, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Pierre-Simon marquis de Laplace, Dr. Michael Faraday, Dr. James Clerk Maxwell, Dr. Max Planck, and myriad others. Even Einstein was a student of the God of Spinoza. Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge. --Isaac AsimovThe innovators tend to be the Separatists, Spinoza, and Scientists. The timeline is intended to show a relationship between significant events which lead to our present circumstance, culture, science, government, and religion. The pivot points include individuals as well as the Reformation and American Enlightenment.