The secular proverb “knowledge is power” was derived from the works of Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), an English philosopher and statesman. The original phrase comes from the Latin “ipsa scientia potestas est”, which loosely translates “knowledge itself is power.” It was Bacon’s secretary, Thomas Hobbes, who coined the phrase in Latin “scientia potentia est”, which translates “knowledge is power” in English. The simple meaning of the concept is:
The more knowledge you have, the more you would be able to control events. This is the real power a man can have. You can do whatever you want with your life; achieve whatever you want and earn glory and respect in life.
-Sir Francis Bacon (summarized)
The appeal of this to the human flesh cannot be understated.
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
-Matthew 26:41
If we extrapolate the essence of Bacon’s proverb to its natural end and ‘look down the barrel of this loaded gun,’ the aim is at God, Himself. The ultimate desire of all fallen creatures is sovereignty of their own universe, to be their own god. Bacon’s concept is a shadow of Satan’s notorious five “I wills” which culminate with, “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). It’s a fool’s game that only leads to further bondage; yet Satan was able to tempt the first two humans into sin with an ancient version of this same concept of “knowledge is power”.
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
-Genesis 3:4-5
If a person supposes they are a god by means of their own knowledge and power, why would they need God? They won’t (in their head). In fact, as this malady persists in their souls it grows proverbial wings and they fly away from Him (by definition, separation from God means death). Frederick Nietzsche wrote a book, God Is Dead, where he used the title phrase to express his idea that the Enlightenment had eliminated the possibility of the existence of God – God “dies”, he hypothesized, when there is no good reason to believe that He exists. In other words, knowledge has power enough to “kill” God.
An antagonist would say, “The more I know about God the more I know I don’t need Him.” This is the exact opposite sentiment of a believer.
The more a believer knows, the more we know how dependent we are on God and the more vivid His life, eternal life, becomes to us. To make it personal, the more I know Him the more I know I need Him. Our aim is no longer learning how to become our own sovereign, increasingly separated from God; rather, it is to learn about our true Sovereign, becoming increasingly closer to Him as we are sanctified in the process. We do not set our sights on God to “kill” Him as Nietzsche supposed; rather, we set our sights on God to find what our new heart longs for, His love.
Paul teaches us that freedom in Christ is enjoyed through obedience of faith. In other words, our education leads us to freedom.
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
-Romans 6:17-22
Slavery to God is freedom in Christ. This is something we must learn and cling to as Truth. Our knowledge leads us away from the temptation subtly impregnated by Bacon’s famous proverb. As our knowledge increases, we realize how infinitely lacking we are to ever make ourselves “like the Most High”. We realize that, for us, knowledge reveals God’s power, not our own. This is true freedom. Since God is all-knowing (omniscient) and all-powerful (omnipotent), and there is no independence from either, there is no real independence from Him, either, only from the evil that supposes it (evil that leads to death).
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
-Galatians 5:1
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins