40 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 



On the threshold of the first part it is advisable to sift 

 the merits of knowledge, and clear it of the disgrace brought 

 upon it by ignorance, whether disguised (1) in the zeal of di 

 vines, (2) the arrogance of politicians, or (3) the errors of men 

 of letters. 



Some divines pretend, 1. &quot;That knowledge is to be re 

 ceived with great limitation, as the aspiring to it was the 

 original sin, and the cause of the fall; 2. That it has some 

 what of the serpent, and puffeth up&quot;; 3. That Solomon 

 says, &quot;Of making books there is no end: much study is 

 weariness of the flesh; for in much wisdom is much grief; 

 and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow&quot;: 6 4. 

 &quot;That St. Paul cautions being spoiled through vain philos 

 ophy&quot; : T 5. &quot;That experience shows learned men have been 

 heretics; and learned times inclined to atheism; and that 

 the contemplation of second causes takes from our depen 

 dence upon God, who is the first. 



To this we answer, 1. It was not the pure knowledge 

 of nature, by the light whereof man gave names to all the 

 creatures in Paradise, agreeable to their natures, that occa 

 sioned the fall; but the proud knowledge of good and evil, 

 with an intent in man to give law to himself, and depend 

 no more upon God. 2. Nor can any quantity of natural 

 knowledge puff up the mind; for nothing fills, much less 

 distends the soul, but Grod. Whence as Solomon declares, 

 4 That the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with 

 hearing&quot;; 8 so of knowledge itself he says, &quot;God hath made 

 all things beautiful in their seasons; 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&quot; ; 9 hereby 

 declaring plainly that God has framed the mind like a glass, 

 capable of the image of the universe, and desirous to receive 

 it as the eye to receive the light; and thus it is not only 

 pleased with the variety and vicissitudes of things, but also 

 endeavors to find out the laws they observe in their changes 



6 Eccles. xii. 12, and i. 18. I. Cor. viii. 1. 



8 Eccles. i. 8. 9 Eccles,. Hi. 11. 



