Scientia potentia est is perhaps better translated as "knowledge is His power", because the context of the sentence refers to the qualities of God and is imbedded in a discussion of heresies that deny the power of God: "statuuntque latiores terminos scientiae Dei quam potestatis, vel potius ejus partis potestatis Dei (nam et ipsa scientia potestas est) qua scit, quam ejus qua movet et agit: ut praesciat quaedam otiose, quae non praedestinet et praeordinet". The English translation of this section includes the following: Interpretation of the notion of power meant by Bacon must therefore take into account his distinction between the power of
Deus caritas est into English as , while in most contemporary English translations it reads "God is love" (since the word "charity" is derived from ). The Latin version of the First Epistle of John uses the same formulation, "Deus caritas est", at the end of translating . This second biblical reference is not mentioned in the encyclical. In this encyclical, Benedict reflects on the concepts of "eros", "agape", and "philia", and their relationship with the teachings of Jesus. "Eros" and "agape" are two of the various Greek words for love, each of which has a slightly different shade of meaning: "agape" is