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Rany asked:

Was Spinoza an atheist? If he was, in what sense (Did he not believe in God at all and was hiding it,
or was he an atheist from the Jewish/Christian/ Muslim perspective only)?

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Although the German poet, Lessing, called Spinoza a man "drowned in God," Spinoza was
excommunicated from the Jewish Community in Amsterdam, Holland, for atheism. Although Spinoza
made what he called "God" the focus of his philosophy, it is clear that his concept of God has nothing
to do with any traditional concept of God. For Spinoza, "God" is identical with the world (is immanent
rather than transcendent) and is impersonal. Spinoza's "God" is God in name only, and to call
philosophical substance "God" as Spinoza did, is only to advance a "persuasive definition" for
atheism.

Kenneth Stern