The Four Idols of Francis Bacon

As the power of the Catholic Church decreased, it was soon left them with only the educational system to rule over. A new philosopher would rise and attempt to take even this power away from them. Francis Bacon argued that to continue the old education system the Catholic Church instilled upon us would lead to idolatry or the worst sin. He grouped these into four categories:
1. Idols of the Tribe - This was pertaining to our human nature and how we respond to a distinct change. We start to jump to conclusions and think about reasons for our environment to change. We seem to need a reason for everything that is strange to us. Also, our previous knowledge adn opinions about various subjects may play a role in the different types of excuses we would use to justify why a certain detail is strange to us. Instead of jumping to conclusions, Bacon is encouraging us to study why things are changing to explain a strange event.
2. Idols of the Cave - This section is referring to the Allegory of the Cave. In the Allegory of the Cave, the ones that teach are the ones in power, thus they will teach what they want. For example, textbook companies print in their books only the information that make their government appear as the good one defending themselves. In the past, it was argued why certain countries cut out events that make them "look bad" by re-writing their history. This effects the opinion of the child reading only from that source. This is an example of how what one is taught is what one learns and based on this previous knowledge, biased conclusions are formed. Thus those that teach are the controllers of the future. If the Church was in charge, then they would teach them to follow the Bible and ignore everything that contradicted it (science would be one). Thus the Church would slowly gain back its power.
3. Idols of the Marketplace - The language of an argument can twist the idea around to mean what it does not mean. The Church utilized their mastery of language to twist the meanings of several concepts to their power. Since most of Europe was uneducated, the Church used this to rise up and be seen like a leader. For example, the aphorisms Jesus taught had different ways to interpret them such as the way he spoke about millenarianism. Certainly, many philosophers formed their conclusions of his aphorism and warned the world that the end of the world was soon to come. Thus by purifying one's soul and following the church, one would be saved and enter Heaven where they achieved eternal happiness. This instilled fear and led to the accumulation of the Church's power.
4. Idols of the Theatre - This is similar to the example i used in the Idols of the Cave where the countries re-write their history in their books as to teach their citizens only what they are proud of. The Christian West picks and chooses certain scholars to fit their teachings and are thus causing us to biased. Again, previous knowledge affects our conclusions about certain subjects.