Stewardship theology absorbed Bacon’s rapacious mining language wholesale

Evidence

Derham followed Bacon in the idea that we should pry into nature to extract her secrets in order to control nature, even taking over the harshness of Bacon’s language: “We can, if need be, ransack the whole globe, penetrate into the bowels of the earth, descend to the bottom of the deep, travel to the farthest regions of this world, to acquire wealth, to increase our knowledge, or even only to please our eye and fancy.” There were “many secret, grand functions and operations of nature in the bowels of the earth.” Once extracted, these secrets could be used to improve man’s lot on earth in order to fulfill the New Testament commandment “Love thy neighbor.” — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 921

Categorization

• XREF: Proves stewardship was continuous with — not opposed to — Baconian exploitation, undercutting the modern stewardship-vs-domination distinction. — connects to: Bacon converted Eden’s divine punishment into a license for scientific dominion — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 675; Natural theology reframed godly stewardship as managerial mastery compatible with growth capitalism — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 925; Natural theology sacralized commerce, science, and improvement as divine service — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 913 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Natural theology reframed godly stewardship as managerial mastery compatible with growth capitalism #corroborates (0.78) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 925
• Natural theology sacralized commerce, science, and improvement as divine service #corroborates (0.75) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 913
• Bacon framed scientific method as the capture and enslavement of a female nature #corroborates (0.72) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 676