How spinozistic was toland’s pantheism?

Abstract

John Toland, generally considered one of the major English deists, introduced the term ‘pantheis’ into English during the Enlightenment. Here I explore exactly what Toland meant by it, and with what right he associated it with the philosophy of Spinoza. I begin by surveying some of the main sources for Toland’s conception of pantheism, and then ask whether the views he ascribes to Spinoza accord with what I believe to be Spinoza’s position on the nature of God and his relation to the universe. I argue that on the most common understanding of pantheism Spinoza is not a pantheist, but that there is an alternative reading of the term, suggested by Toland, according to which he is.