Ian Buruma's new biography, "Spinoza: Freedoms Messiah," presents the 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza as a champion of free thought, whose ideas about the nature of God were highly controversial in both the Jewish and Calvinist communities.

Baruch Spinoza, a 17th-century philosopher, was a radical free thinker with strong moral principles, despite his disbelief in an all-seeing God.