HKB
The | distinction between the will and | power of God, so fully and subtly | present in Baconian texts, is very | important. "The heavens declare the | glory of God, and the firmament | showeth his handworks": this verse | from the Psalms (18,2) is quoted by | Bacon several times. The image of the | world, immediately after the Word, is | a sign of the divine wisdom and | power, and yet the Scriptures do not | call the world ,"the image of God," | but regard it only as "the work of | his hands," neither do they speak of | any image of God other than man. | Theology is concerned with knowing | the book of the word of God, natural | philosophy studies the book of God's | works. The book of Scripture reveals | the will of God, the book of nature, | his power. The study of nature has | nothing to say about God's essence or | his will (IV; 340-3). | | Bacon proposed to the European | culture an alternative view of | science. For him science had a | public, democratic, and collaborative | character, individual efforts | contributing to its general success. | In science, as Bacon conceives it, | truly effective results (not the | illusory achievements of magicians | and alchemists) can be attained only | through collaboration among | researchers, circulation of results, | and clarity of language. Scientific | understanding is not an individual | undertaking. The extension of man's | power over nature is never the work | of a single investigator who keeps | his results secret, but is the fruit | of an organized community financed by | the state or by public bodies. Every | reform of learning is always a reform | also of cultural institutions and | universities. | | Not only a new image of science, but | also a new portrait of the "natural | philosopher" took shape in Bacon's | writings. This portrait differed both | from that of the ancient philosopher | or sage and from the image of the | saint, the monk, the university | professor, the courtier, the perfect | prince, the magus. The values and the | ends theorized for the composite | groups of intellectuals and artisans | who contributed in the early | seventeenth century to the | development of science were different | from the goals of individual sanctity | or literary immortality and from the | aims of an exceptional and "demonic" | personality. | | A chaste patience, a natural modesty, | grave and composed manners, a smiling | pity are the characteristics of the | man of science in Bacon's portrait of | him. In the REDARGUTIO PHILOSOPHIARUM | Bacon wrote: | | Then he told me that in Paris a | friend had taken him along and | introduced him to a gathering, 'the | sight of which', he said, 'would | rejoice your eyes. lt was the | happiest experience of my life'.