Faust
In the renaissance a period of an awake and changes, the period produce an amount of unusual man's and many with unusual life, one of them was Montaigne. From his early days his father a soldier by profession and he had humanistic prospect, whether, condescending or not, his early childhood days were spent under a peasant family. Montaigne mother descending of Spanish Jews, but she like rest of her family where bring as Protestant and his father was Catholic. The times were the Conflict of Catholic King Henry III and the protestant Henry Navarre.
Montaigne was unusual, because he was being influence by his humanistic upbringing, where he had a disdain for violence or religious bigotry. He did believe in God, but never speculate about in part he challenge and question the dogma of the absolute, Montaigne inherent a cultural relativism, in essay “The Apology for Raymond Sebond”, question the trust of reason in part, emotions and believes are rationalize and our reason is not superior to animals, since reason is instrument to legitimize, bias come from our emotions and he being training in Jurisprudence he question the use and validity of confession under torture.
The Legend of Faust whether is base Dr Johann Georg Faust from Württemberg (a Doctor in Divinity and later on dedicated his life to Alchemy) or Italian version, even a French version Goethe Faust where first section was a life of lust and Second part where reason and emotions with constriction given a chance Faust to end heaven and regain his soul from Mephistopheles.
In pursuit of his passions and insecurities sold the soul. The dogma is the rationality of the bias, and desires. The dogma will exclude and kill, Germany before WWII, sell their soul to a dream of the right to power base on race. Race was the rationality of the dogma is Faust for lust of destructives relationships, Germany soul was sold for greed and power, in the end the price was to high, the country was destroy.
Religion, ideology is not least of a dogma in the pursuit of power Montaigne point out, the over reach by the desire and limit of power itself, will be the demise.

Spinoza

Some years, ago one of my teachers of Religion, told what is important, what person believe not where the individual come from. For many years I wonder about the question and I realize, the opposite, the place, give the meaning and influence our prospected of what type of ideal we taken upon.
Education is not about mastering or just remembering some set of assumptions or believes or being right a particular time, but education is about judgment causes and consequence, a professional will gives advice not only from previous knowledge, but from the experience.
Experience is how knowledge as created, in our experience we introduce set of bias, in two levels, conscious and subconscious. Our conscious come from experiences and the subconscious from the bias we inherent from our environment, our society, family, friends and our education whish draw upon these sets of experiences.
The historical Spinoza was a unique and precarious situation, where he was not just outsider of his own community, but his environment. Spinoza excommunicated from his community, was just about his theistic ideas, but with Spain reconquest from Islam the Iberia Peninsula was closing and open an Era.
Medieval Europe where Socrates-Republic and Augustine City of God were glorify with the order of feudal structure, where the Philosopher King-was the King and Lords the second levels, where the head draw his legitimize. The innovation of the feudal systems, parallel to secular structure was the power of the Church, and the problem to this despotic ideal were the Jews, since the could not fit into the structure. When the Christians had Toledo in the 13 century part of their claim, force conversion of the Jews, families where divided and because or they just believe kept their faith, a consequences the Bishop suggestion was to genocide the Jews, his suggestion was previous to Luther suggested, but the Bishop had draw from experience the Christianity had dealing with Heretics and outsiders.
Spain transferee his experience in 1441 with the expulsion of the Jews and in 1442 into the Americas, Spain domination disseminate the native population of the Americas. Spain behavior was not unique, just happen to be the first one, but a close look Portugal colonies in Africa haven to deal with the attitude, it was not just hostility of Superior culture since the Greeks legitimize in the wars against the Persian in the end result Athenian Empire collapse.
The delineation between end Medieval Europe and Renaissances, more then anyone Galileo by using an instrument to question the order of things. Spinoza tragedy in letter of January 28 1665 where Spinoza answer to his Critique William de Blyenbergh who consider Spinoza theistic views is close to Atheism by deny the absolute control God. Spinoza question the assumptions of the first principles, where Spinoza challenge the absolute literal authority of the Bible versus the why Spinoza call the “Natural Light of the Intellect.”
The idea of God Logos was seeing in Maimonides, the Arabs Rationalist and of course Aristotle. Spinoza took from the revival of Logic. Spinoza answer dealt with two different reactions of the Jews dealing with tragedy of the Jewish communities in Spain, one approach mantel of Mystic and second rationalist, which Spinoza took upon. For Spinoza a mathematical Proof, like Socrates was truth is God himself.
Spinoza personal experience being outsider is manifested in Political Treatise where his call for tolerance in Democracy in the section question, if women had the right in a Democracy, and question the Authority of the Aristocrats. Spinoza wanted equality in the Power of the sexes, even bringing the power of the Amazons, but his ambiguity was limited by the time, since by them his life was ask and by them Spinoza did not belong to any group. Spinoza becoming Europe nightmare of the perpetual outsider from the tradition of the despotic structure, which Europe has been built upon, Spinoza philosophical questioning, was a respond of Europe perpetual outsider.