Thank you for your response and feedback. I am glad you enjoyed it. This article is based on research I am doing for a new book on the history of secular ideas titled Dangerous Ideas. A partial bibliography of my sources, as requested:

Beckwith, C. I. (2015). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho’s encounter with early Buddhism in Central Asia. Princeton University Press.

Bennett, J. (1984). A Study of Spinoza’s ethics. Hackett Publishing.

Cicero. (1896). De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods) (F. Brooks Trans.). Methuen & Co.

Curley, E. (2015). Resurrecting Leo Strauss. In W. Schröder (Ed.), Reading between the lines - Leo Strauss and the history of early modern philosophy (pp. 129-170). [Proquest version]. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/

Curley E. (2020). Spinoza’s Contribution to Biblical Scholarship. In D. Garrett (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Spinoza (2nd ed.). Manuscript submitted for publication.

Eusebius of Caesarea. (1903). Praeparatio evangelica. (E. H. Gifford Trans.). The Tertullian Project. Retrieved from http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/

Freud, S. (1939). Moses and monotheism. (K. Jones Trans.). Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3bG1l9K

Freud, S. (2008). The Future of an illusion. (J. A. Underwood and S. Whiteside Trans.). Penguin Books.

Goldstein, R. (2018). Every claim for reason ever made: Ethics, Benedictus Spinoza. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 85(3), 585-595. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/707606

Hongladarom, S. (2015). Spinoza & Buddhism on the self. The Oxford Philosopher. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2NpUiqk

Hyman, A. (1963). Spinoza’s dogmas of universal faith in the light of their medieval Jewish background. In A. Altmann (Ed.), Biblical and other studies (pp. 183-195). Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3hgGLOQ

Israel, J. (2011). Democratic enlightenment: Philosophy, revolution, and human rights 1750-1790. [Proquest version]. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/

Israel, J. (2015). Leo Strauss and the radical Enlightenment. In W. Schröder (Ed.), Reading between the lines - Leo Strauss and the history of early modern philosophy (pp. 9-28). [Proquest version]. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/

Jaspers, K. (2015). Way to wisdom: An introduction to philosophy. Yale University Press.

Lactantius. On the anger of God. New Advent. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3h18AKW

Maimonides. (1904). The Guide for the perplexed (2nd ed.). (M. Friedländer Trans.). Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2E2VHl7

McEvilley, T. C. (2002). The Shape of ancient thought: Comparative studies in Greek and Indian philosophies. Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/37ZrbDB

Cf. Reale, G. (1985). A History of ancient philosophy III: Systems of the Hellenistic age. (J. Catan Trans.) SUNY Press.

Nadler, S. (2011). A book forged in hell: Spinoza's scandalous treatise and the birth of the secular age. [Kindle Reader version]. Princeton University Press.

Nadler, S. (1999). Spinoza: A life. Cambridge University Press.

Nadler, S. (2006). Spinoza’s Ethics: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.

Pliny the Elder. (1967). Natural history. (H. Rackham Trans.). Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2Vi4AgC

Russell, B. (1945). A History of western philosophy. Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3eRRs8I

Schopenhauer, A. (1909). The World as will and idea (Vol. 2). (R. B. Haldane and J. Kemp Trans.). Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2Z4V9Co

Sedley, D. (2013). From the pre-Socratics to the Hellenistic age. In S. Bullivant and M. Ruse (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of atheism (pp. 139-151). Oxford University Press.

Sextus Empiricus. (1996). The Skeptic way: Sextus Empiricus’s Outlines of Pyrrhonism. (B. Mates Trans.) Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2RCK1cv

Spinoza, B. (1677). Ethics. Infomotions. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2CF2oJE

Spinoza, B. (1910). Short treatise on God, man, and his well-being. (A. Wolf Trans. & Ed.). Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/31i0hFI

Spinoza, B. (2016). The Collected works of Spinoza (Vol. 2). (E. Curley Trans. & Ed.). Princeton University Press.

Steinberg, J. (2019). Spinoza’s political philosophy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Summer 2019 Edition. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/spinoza-political/

Teresi, D. (2002). Lost Discoveries: The Ancient roots of modern science - from the Babylonians to the Maya. Simon and Schuster.

Vardoulakis, D. (2020a). Hobbes or Spinoza? Two Epicurean Versions of the Social Contract. InCircolo, 9, 186-210.

Vardoulakis, D. (2020b). Spinoza, the Epicurean: Authority and utility in materialism. Edinburgh University Press.

Whitmarsh, T. (2015). Battling the gods: Atheism in the ancient world. [EBSCO version]. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com

Wolfson, H. A. (1934). The Philosophy of Spinoza: Unfolding the latent processes of his reasoning (Vol. 2). Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2OAX1On

Ziporyn, B. (2012). Spinoza and the self-overcoming of solipsism. Comparative and Continental Philosophy, 4(1), 125-140.

Founders Online, National Archives. (1819, October). From Thomas Jefferson to William Short, 31 October 1819. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/35jsH4p

Internet Classics Archive. http://classics.mit.edu/index.html

Epicurus - Letter to Menoeceus

Perseus Digital Library. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/

Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers

Wikisource. Letter to Herodotus. Retrieved August 18, 2020 from https://bit.ly/2Q9HQMB