Confessional and Mosaic Physics: Tensions and Commonalities

Many (protestant) confessional philosophers claimed that physics should be exclusively based on the Bible, not on ancient pagan philosophy. At first sight, this program appears very similar to Mosaic philosophy. Still, there are important differences, as demonstrated by an analysis of three works by authors of different backgrounds, who all claimed the Bible was the sole authority on natural knowledge: Meteorologia by Johannes Garcaeus, Atlas by Gerhard Mercator, and Physica Christiana by Lambertus Danaeus. It is argued that the label ‘Mosaic’ should be reserved for philosophers who, like Mercator, opposed confessionalization rather than being part of it, and were genuinely interested in establishing new physical principles. Garcaeus and Danaeus used Biblical passages on nature merely to illustrate Church doctrine. Their philosophy therefore cannot be called ‘Mosaic.’