Exemplar Humanae Vitae

…after writing a short autobiography, Exemplar Humanae Vitae (1687; “Example of a Human Life”), he shot himself. Acosta’s Exemplar depicted revealed religion as disruptive of natural law and a source of hatred and superstition. In contrast, he advocated a faith based on natural law and reason.

In his autobiography, Exemplar Humanae Vitae (“Example of a Human Life”), Acosta took a more radical position. He proclaimed the supreme excellence of the natural moral law; when arguing before Jews, he seemed to identify this law with the Noahide Laws (the commandments given to Noah), thus suggesting…