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 " Jodocus van Lodenstein – from the United Provinces (Netherlands). Lodenstein was a minister in Reformed Church in United Provinces in mid 17thC He was born in Delft in 1620 and was minister in Utrecht 1653-77. Lodenstein used the phrase in a devotional publication in 1674. 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