Spinoza's language & alleged atheism

The blessed Baruch Spinoza has been interpreted in various ways, one of them as a covert atheist by opponents and fans alike. Traditionally, anyone not a standard theist, or extremely heterodox, even if not an avowed (or even tacit) atheist, could be labelled an atheist. In the past century or more, materialists and atheists have been tempted to view Spinoza as one of their forerunners. However one wishes to interpret Spinoza, a key entry point into this conundrum is Spinoza's transmutation of inherited metaphysical concepts and hence of accepted philosophical terminology. See this entry on another of my blogs:

Spinoza’s Semantics

You will find further links there, including these:

Spinoza & Marxism: Selected Bibliography (with Basic Spinoza Web Guide)

My Yiddishe Spinoza (entry in old blog)

Leibniz (entry in old blog)