Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.
Well, today is the anniversary of the death of one of the most fascinating thinkers of the Middle Ages. In addition to his extensive discoveries in the sciences, Roger Bacon revolutionized how the Bible was studied. His influence can still be seen in both theology and science today. Born in 1214 to a well-off family in England, Bacon first attended Oxford and then studied for a short while at the University of Paris. After returning to England, he joined the Franciscan Order.
Bacon believed in direct first-hand observation. He disagreed with the theologians of the University of Paris, who taught theology from Peter Lombard's sentences, a sort of study guide to scripture and the works of the early Christian fathers. By that method, students learned to look at the Bible only after their ideas had first been formed by sentences. Also, these scholars refused to learn or teach the biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek, but instead relied on defective Latin translations of the Bible. Bacon advocated a text-based approach to theology.
He believed the Bible should be studied first before studying Lombard sentences. He also believed the Bible should be studied in the original languages in order to make first-hand observations of the text. That order, first Bible, then sentences, became the standard approach at Oxford. Prioritizing the study of original languages, however, would not happen for nearly 300 years. To aid in the study of scripture, Bacon developed a sophisticated theory of language and logic that brought together elements of philosophy and theology.
As a Franciscan, however, he was prohibited from publishing these ideas. But in 1265, Pope Clement IV asked Bacon to write a book on the relationship between philosophy and theology. He responded with a major treatise that covered a whole range of subjects, entitled Opus Majeu. Bacon's belief in first-hand observation extended beyond the study of scripture. Though he appreciated the work of ancient thinkers, he did not believe their ideas should just be automatically trusted.
Rather, they should be confirmed by experience and experimentation. Like other medieval thinkers, he was open to the possibility of miracles, but he rejected them as an explanation for normal events. To him, reliance on supernatural explanations was just lazy. Instead, he believed that natural events had natural causes, though God might occasionally overrule them. He also believed that mathematics was foundational for understanding the natural world.
He used it to quantify his observations.
Some of his most important work was in astronomy and optics. He studied mirrors and lenses, making observations that would lead to an explanation of rainbows. And his work in the sciences extended beyond optics. He studied the eye and the brain. He predicted technological breakthroughs, reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci or Jules Verne.
He was the first European, for example, to discuss gunpowder after firecrackers. were brought to him from China. He figured out its chemical make-up, though he wasn't exactly correct about the proportions. He anticipated microscopes, telescopes, eyeglasses, which were, by the way, invented just after his death. He also predicted the development of hydraulics, automobiles, steamships, submarines, and even flying machines.
In fact, his achievements in so many different arenas have earned him a place in science fiction and fantasy novels as a time traveler or wizard. Bacon believed that God wrote two books, the Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture, and he believed that they had to be read together. Thus, studying the natural world was for Bacon a theological activity. The study, either nature or scripture, required direct observation. His methodology honored the integrity of the creation and the primacy of scripture in theology.
His ideas came from a worldview based on biblical ideas about the world and the nature of humanity. Ideas that he understood and applied far and wide, and far more than his contemporaries. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored with Dr. Glenn Sunshine.
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