Damon asked:

Did Spinoza believe in a beginning of the universe, like a big bang, or more of a universe that has no
beginning or ending? Did God create the universe, or is God just the whole universe without a
creation?

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Spinoza believed that the universe was eternal. Since he believed that Time was a part of the
universe, the universe itself could have neither beginning nor end.

Spinoza uses the Latin phrase "Deus sive Natura" which means "God or Nature (the Universe)."
Spinoza believed that God and Nature were identical. In the sense that God sustains himself, God
creates himself, and so, Nature or the Universe. Thus, Spinoza calls God "Causa sui," which means
"cause of himself."

Ken Stern

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