Smyrna Times

Bacon's High Praise of Biblical Writer

Sir Francis Bacon, one of the world's greatest thinkers, had great admiration for the Book of Job.
"That excellent book of Job," he called it. And then he suggested that, if it be carefully studied, it will be found to contain a wonderful knowledge of natural philosophy, writes Bruno Lessing.
The reference to the minerals in the earth, Bacon thought, proved that Job was a great mineralogist.
There is really something plausible in this thought. Of course Job could have known nothing of the present theory of geology, namely, that the earth was built up by one layer piling upon another layer. But his familiarity with minerals and metals and his reference to wheat crops and his belief that there was heat underneath the earth's crust, fit in so well with what we know today that it must be admitted Job at the very least, was a clear-thinking man.