It is clear, argues Spinoza, that God cannot be known through miracles. God is known only by means of "clear and distinct" premises, but miracles are events that are not understood and thus cannot be the basis of true knowledge. If anything, remarks Spinoza wryly, miracles, understood as contravening the laws of Nature, would lead one to doubt the existence of God. Belief in such miracles, he repeats, "would make us doubt everything and lead us to atheism."The proposition that miracles cannot establish true belief may, according to Spinoza, be derived from Scripture. For example, Deuteronomy 13:2-5 speaks of false prophets who perform miracles and are put to death for their false prophecy. From here, observes Spinoza, one learns that miracles do not prove the truth of a prophet's words. This observation is in line with Maimonides's dictum, "One who believes by virtue of signs has defective knowledge, for the sign could have been performed by trickery or magic."
