Scientia potentia est Scientia potentia est The phrase "scientia potentia est"" (or "scientia est potentia" or also "scientia potestas est")" is a Latin aphorism meaning "knowledge is power". It is commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, although there is no known occurrence of this precise phrase in Bacon's English or Latin writings. However, the expression ""ipsa scientia potestas est"" ('knowledge itself is power') occurs in Bacon's "Meditationes Sacrae" (1597). The exact phrase ""scientia potentia est"" was written for the first time in the 1668 version of the work "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes, who was secretary to Bacon as a young man. The related
Ecclesia semper reformanda est Ecclesia semper reformanda est Ecclesia semper reformanda est (Latin for "the church must always be reformed", often – as usual in Latin – shortened to "Ecclesia semper reformanda") is a phrase first greatly popularized by Karl Barth in 1947, allegedly deriving from a saying of St. Augustine. It refers to the conviction of certain Reformed Protestant theologians that the church must continually re-examine itself in order to maintain its purity of doctrine and practice. An early example is Jodocus van Lodenstein, "Beschouwinge van Zion (Contemplation of Zion)", Amsterdam, 1674-1678, who claims the "truth ... that also in the Church there