| the seventeenth century. As all works
| --says Bacon--show the power and
| ability of their maker, but not his
| image, so God's works "do shew the
| omnipotency and wisdom of the maker
| but not his image" (III, 350). 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).
|