| philosophy of the Paracelsian school,
| which seeks "the truth of all natural
| philosophy in the Scriptures." The
| Paracelsians mirror and reverse the
| heresies of pagan pantheism by
| seeking what is "dead" (mortal or
| natural) from among the "living"
| (eternal) truths of divinity, when
| "the scope or purpose of the Spirit
| of God is not to express matters of
| nature in the Scriptures, otherwise
| than in passage, and for application
| to man's capacity and to matters
| moral or divine" (ut 485-6). If we
| take Thomas Sprat at his word, the
| Royal Society was founded on
| generally similar principles. The
| first corruption of knowledge, he
| argues, resulted from the Egyptians'
| concealment of wisdom "as sacred
| Mysteries." The current age of
| inquiry benefitted from "the
| dissolution of the ABBYES, whereby
| their Libraries came forth into the
| light, and fell into industrious Mens
| hands." Surrounded by the warring
| forces of contrary religions (the
| society's rooms at Gresham College,
| London, were occupied by soldiers in
| 1658), the founders of the Royal