In 1620 Francis Bacon published a manifesto. He was critical of endless theoretical philosophizing based on the classical texts and advocated more empirical testing and pragmatic knowledge (Grafton:197).
Both the New World and ancient texts played key roles in Bacon’s dramas of scientific discovery. The title page of the Great Instauration shows a ship sailing past classical columns that represent the pillars of Hercules, the ancient limits of navigation and knowledge. Charles V had taken the pillars as his symbol, with the cautious humanist motto: "Ne plus ultra" "Do not go too far." Bacon kept the pillars but sent his ship past them and lopped off a vital word from the Latin tag: Plus ultra, "Too far is not enough". Discovery, not reading has become the central mode of obtaining important knowledge (Grafton:198).
And anyone who cared to see, as Bacon did, knew exactly at whose doors to lay the blame for the human races general failure to think for itself... The Greeks stood at the beginning of the story, already infected with two sorts of original sin. They had theorized too much and they had known too little. The character of their thought had been fixed in advance by the larger nature of their society. Working competitively in large cities, sophists taught for pay and philosophers for reputation. Both sort of thinker had naturally tried less to find the truth than to win debates. Their philosophy, accordingly, concentrated less on the workings of nature than on the tricks of argument (Grafton:200).
Question: anyone see any parallels with our current situation?
* Taken from Anthony Grafton, New Worlds, Ancient Texts: The Power of Tradition and the Shock of Discovery, London: Harvard University Press, 1992.
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8 comments:
"They theorized too much and they had known too little."
"Both sort of thinker had naturally tried less to find the truth than to win debates."
These statements impacted me. I remember my spritual awakening, the hunger, the readiness to do anything that God commanded. I wanted to see that personified in a leader, a mentor. I found few examples. Thank God there were a few, but far more were defined by a lack of hunger and a readiness to say, "We'll do the Lord's will, but you have to understand that..." and "Yes, that's right, but you have to see that we can't..." and so on. I began to see that there were "attachments" that could not be yielded. I started seeing that God wasn't bringing a new thing in by telling us what He was going to do, but by asking "Are you free from attachments? Can you serve me?" That's the only question that matters to Him. The thing holding back renewal and movements is attachments. Ownership.
The Kingdom takes new land. The Kingdom expands. The King will not rest until all things are under His feet. Why should we rest when our Lord labors amongst the lost? Why do we fold our hands to theorize when He is busy washing feet? How can we sit scratching our heads when He is directing platoons in the field?
We might be looking for God to say, "I am going to start a massive renewal and movement. I am going to revitalize the American church and bring it back into a place of influence. This is how I am going to do it. Gather round..." He's not saying that though. We're saying, "God will you restore the American church and make it important and central again?" No answer. Continued decline. Death. His only answer is... "I'm going to do something to expand my Kingdom and bring glory to My name. I am going to use the foolish things to shame the wise. I am going to bring water to the desert. I am going to give the blind sight, the deaf hearing, and set the captives free. I may crush Western Christianity in the process. I may squeeze you to pour out life on others. I may make you suffer so that they can live. Will you join me? Will you drop the attachments and let go of control?"
Matt, I could not agree more about the issue of attachments. I have mentally located them under the category of "hindrences" from Hebrews 12...we must cast aside hindrences in order to run the race lightly.
I spent the summer in Brazil cataloguing and surrendering my attachments one-by-one.
OK, OK, if you're going to play the Beatles, I should at least pay a visit!
I am seeking to resist and relinquish my tendency to simply tell you what I think and to instead try to think a bit more deeply about it before saying anything. I'll probably discover that I don't have all that much helpful to say, which has the added benefit of keeping the decks clear!
hehehe... the Beatles are hard to resist!
Remember, in living systems theory, variety and multiplication are the spice of life...if I keep starting up blogs...one of them is going to be a hit some day! (my personal favorite is the humor one).
I hear you Brian...I have to check the same tendency in myself. I wanted to respond to several emails yesterday...conversation style...but I forced myself to only send one and to wait until today and read through 6 or 7 emails reflectively before responding.
You have always struck me as a thoughtful and reflective listener...and I have always benefited from what you say. I am still pondering the issue of faithfulness...
Where to begin...
I agree one hundred with you Brian! I think sometimes the Church waits and asks God to make them bigger and larger, not for the Glory of God, but for their own glory.
For the first time I agree with Benny Hinn, He stated that until the Church would bow down and make Christ the true head things will not happen. It is not mans head that is to be lifted up, but Christs and His Glory and His Wisdom... I would so much love to see Miracles and have a part in them, I also understand that there is danger in claiming the power as your own and God will give as he sees our hearts surrender and live for him... I am not talking any type of Religious Rhetoric, I am talking about things happening because the power of God is a part of myself. Even Christ said I am nothing without the father.
I have heard too many times "Let Gods Will be done..." Stop and think what it is you are saying, Gods will be done... Okay but do not be surprised at what happens. Gods will most of the time is not our will... Good prayer to have is let Gods will become my will. Usually when I hea Gods will be done, it usually comes with stipulations... God doesn't need parameters in order to function. Walking the path Christ walked, Wow! He showed us how to do it, he told us it can be done... He didn't lie, it can be done, we need to Die to our will and let Gods will become our will, Let God have the Glory, let God use us instead of us trying to use him, and please, Please!! No Politics... No self righteousness and no more Bellwethers - Wikipedia:
A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings. The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (a wether) in order that this animal might lead its flock of sheep.
Christ is The only Shepherd and is the only true teacher and Pastor... The sooner 'The Church' recognizes this, the sooner we can all move on and the Kindom will finally become visible.
My two cents
Thanks for listening and hope this is helpful.
I just lost what was going to be a comment on your original post.
What the heck, I'm not sure I understood it well enough to say much about it anyway, but I sure like the music.
John Lennon could write, couldn't he?
Gee Whiz, they were young!
Joseph, you play it and they will come -- especially if you can post more original videos of classic rock groups from the '60's and 70's.
I think I will leave the Revolution video on here for a while...
my point with Francis Bacon was not necessarily to endorse his methodology or epistomology (thanks Steve) but to use his comments on Greek theorizing as a parable or metaphor for current issues with postmodernism and the church.
There is a need for fresh, innovative inductive study of the life and teachings of Jesus and fresh application to our social situation. We need a ecclesiological revolution...
I have a hard time reading when Im enjoying The Beatles too much >_<
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