1Moon, we are to underſtand the Orbes of all the other Planets,
paſſed over in ſilence here, as alſo in all other places of the Sacred
Scriptures; the intention of which, was not to reach us the Aſtro
nomical Sciences. I ſuppoſe therefore, (if I be not deceived)
that it is very plain, that if we allow the Ptolemaick Syſteme, we
muſt of neceſſity interpret the words to ſome ſenſe different from
their ſtrict ſignification. Which Interpretation (being admo
niſhed by the moſt uſefull precepts of S. Auguſtine) I will not
affirm to be of neceſſity this above-mentioned, ſince that ſome
other man may haply think of ſome other more proper, and more
agreeable Senſe.
paſſed over in ſilence here, as alſo in all other places of the Sacred
Scriptures; the intention of which, was not to reach us the Aſtro
nomical Sciences. I ſuppoſe therefore, (if I be not deceived)
that it is very plain, that if we allow the Ptolemaick Syſteme, we
muſt of neceſſity interpret the words to ſome ſenſe different from
their ſtrict ſignification. Which Interpretation (being admo
niſhed by the moſt uſefull precepts of S. Auguſtine) I will not
affirm to be of neceſſity this above-mentioned, ſince that ſome
other man may haply think of ſome other more proper, and more
agreeable Senſe.
But now, if this ſame paſſage may be underſtood in the Coper
nican Syſteme, to agree better with what we read in Joſhuah,
with the help of another Obſervation by me newly ſhewen in
the Body of the Sun; I will propound it to conſideration, ſpeak
ing alwaies with thoſe ſafe Reſerves; That I am not ſo affectio
nate to my own inventions, as to prefer them before thoſe of
other men, and to believe that better and more agreeable to the
intention of the Sacred Volumes cannot be produced.
nican Syſteme, to agree better with what we read in Joſhuah,
with the help of another Obſervation by me newly ſhewen in
the Body of the Sun; I will propound it to conſideration, ſpeak
ing alwaies with thoſe ſafe Reſerves; That I am not ſo affectio
nate to my own inventions, as to prefer them before thoſe of
other men, and to believe that better and more agreeable to the
intention of the Sacred Volumes cannot be produced.
Suppoſing therefore in the firſt place, that in the Miracle of
Joſhuah, the whole Syſteme of the Celeſtial Revolutions ſtood
ſtill, according to the judgment of the afore-named Authors:
And this is the rather to be admitted, to the end, that by the
ſtaying of one alone, all the Conſtitutions might not be con
founded, and a great diſorder needleſly introduced in the whole
courſe of Nature: I come in the ſecond place to conſider how the
Solar Body, although ſtable in one conſtant place, doth neverthe
leſs revolve in it ſelf, making an entire Converſion in the ſpace
of a Month, or thereabouts; as I conceive I have ſolidly demon
ſtrated in my Letters Delle Machie Solari: Which motion we
ſenſibly ſee to be in the upper part of its Globe, inclined to
wards the South; and thence towards the lower part, to encline
towards the North, juſt in the ſame manner as all the other Orbs
of the Planets do. Thirdly, If we reſpect the Nobility of the
Sun, and his being the Fountain of Light, by which, (as I neceſ
ſarily demonſtrate) not onely the Moon and Earth, but all the
other Planets (all in the ſame manner dark of themſelves) become
illuminated; I conceive that it will be no unlogicall Illation to ſay,
That it, as the Grand Miniſter of Nature, and in a certain ſenſe
the Soul and Heart of the World, infuſeth into the other Bodies
which environ it; not onely Light, but Motion alſo; by revol
ving ^{*} in it ſelf: So that in the ſame manner that the motion of
the Heart of an Animal ceaſing, all the other motions of its
Members would ceaſe; ſo, the Converſion of the Sun ceaſing,
the Converſions of all the Planets would ſtand ſtill. And though
Joſhuah, the whole Syſteme of the Celeſtial Revolutions ſtood
ſtill, according to the judgment of the afore-named Authors:
And this is the rather to be admitted, to the end, that by the
ſtaying of one alone, all the Conſtitutions might not be con
founded, and a great diſorder needleſly introduced in the whole
courſe of Nature: I come in the ſecond place to conſider how the
Solar Body, although ſtable in one conſtant place, doth neverthe
leſs revolve in it ſelf, making an entire Converſion in the ſpace
of a Month, or thereabouts; as I conceive I have ſolidly demon
ſtrated in my Letters Delle Machie Solari: Which motion we
ſenſibly ſee to be in the upper part of its Globe, inclined to
wards the South; and thence towards the lower part, to encline
towards the North, juſt in the ſame manner as all the other Orbs
of the Planets do. Thirdly, If we reſpect the Nobility of the
Sun, and his being the Fountain of Light, by which, (as I neceſ
ſarily demonſtrate) not onely the Moon and Earth, but all the
other Planets (all in the ſame manner dark of themſelves) become
illuminated; I conceive that it will be no unlogicall Illation to ſay,
That it, as the Grand Miniſter of Nature, and in a certain ſenſe
the Soul and Heart of the World, infuſeth into the other Bodies
which environ it; not onely Light, but Motion alſo; by revol
ving ^{*} in it ſelf: So that in the ſame manner that the motion of
the Heart of an Animal ceaſing, all the other motions of its
Members would ceaſe; ſo, the Converſion of the Sun ceaſing,
the Converſions of all the Planets would ſtand ſtill. And though