Nothing can fill, much less extend the soul of man, but God and the contemplation of God.
— Francis Bacon
In Defence of the Pursuit of Knowledge
It was not the pure knowledge of Nature and universality, a knowledge by the light whereof man did give names unto other creatures in Paradise as they were brought before him according unto their proprieties, which gave the occasion to the fall; but it was the proud knowledge of good and evil, with an intent in man to give law unto himself, and to depend no more upon God’s commandments, which was the form of the temptation. Neither is it any quantity of knowledge, how great soever, that can make the mind of man to swell; for nothing can fill, much less extend the soul of man, but God and the contemplation of God;
“Also He hath placed the world in man’s heart, yet cannot man find out the work which God worketh from the beginning to the end”—God hath framed the mind of man as a mirror or glass, capable of the image of the universal world, and joyful to receive the impression thereof, as the eye joyeth to receive light.
The quality of knowledge, if taken without the true corrective thereof, hath in it some nature of venom or malignity. This corrective spice, the mixture whereof maketh knowledge so sovereign, is charity.
To conclude, therefore, in the book of God’s word, or in the book of God’s works, divinity or philosophy; let men endeavour an endless progress or proficience in both; only let men beware that they apply both to charity, and not to swelling; to use, and not to ostentation; and again, that they do not unwisely mingle or confound these learnings together.
On Natural Theology
A little or superficial knowledge of philosophy may incline the mind of men to atheism, but a further proceeding therein doth bring the mind back again to religion. For in the entrance of philosophy, when the second causes, which are next unto the senses, do offer themselves to the mind of man, if it dwell and stay there it may induce some oblivion of the highest cause.
There was never miracle wrought by God to convert an atheist, because the light of nature might have led him to confess a God; but miracles have been wrought to convert idolaters and the superstitious, because no light of nature extendeth to declare the will and true worship of God. For as all works do show forth the power and skill of the workman, and not his image, so it is of the works of God, which do show the omnipotency and wisdom of the Maker, but not His image. And therefore therein the heathen opinion differeth from the sacred truth: for they supposed the world to be the image of God, and man to be an extract or compendious image of the world; but the Scriptures never vouchsafe to attribute to the world that honour, as to be the image of God, but only the work of His hands; neither do they speak of any other image of God but man. Wherefore by the contemplation of nature to induce and enforce the acknowledgment of God, and to demonstrate His power, providence, and goodness, is an excellent argument, and hath been excellently handled by divers, but on the other side, out of the contemplation of nature, or ground of human knowledges, to induce any verity or persuasion concerning the points of faith, is in my judgment not safe.
The End of Knowledge
For men have entered into a desire of learning and knowledge, sometimes upon a natural curiosity and inquisitive appetite; sometimes to entertain their minds with variety and delight; sometimes for ornament and reputation; and sometimes to enable them to victory of wit and contradiction; and most times for lucre and profession; and seldom sincerely to give a true account of their gift of reason to the benefit and use of men: as if there were sought in knowledge a couch whereupon to rest a searching and restless spirit; or a terrace for a wandering and variable mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect; or a tower of state, for a proud mind to raise itself upon; or a fort or commanding ground, for strife and contention; or a shop, for profit or sale; and not a rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator and the relief of man’s estate.
That knowledge may not be as a courtesan, for pleasure and vanity only, or as a bond-woman, to acquire and gain to her master’s use; but as a spouse, for generation, fruit, and comfort.
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References:
- Bacon, Francis. The Advancement of Learning. Project Gutenberg. Apr. 1, 2004. Accessed June 17, 2018. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5500
Thanks for this. Hume uses that line, “a little philosophy makes a man an atheist, while much makes him religious,” in his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, and I never knew exactly were it came from; he refers to it as common knowledge.
Heisenberg once said, “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you”, so it is interesting to me that Bacon, the Father of modern science, actually said it first. It was “common knowledge” perhaps because it originated with Aristotle’s Four Causes, which Bacon also alluded to in his book.
Hume has almost become my favorite punching bag. 🙂 I thought about reading his Dialogues and critiquing his arguments point by point, but I suspect there is nothing new there that I haven’t come across in his Enquiry. I really don’t see why he is so influential among modern philosophers.