1Therefore the two great Lights are to be underſtood in reſpect of
us, and according to vulgar eſtimation, and not according to the
true and reall exiſtence of ſuch Bodies. Secondly, in the ſpeci
fication of the Propoſition it is ſaid, The greater Light to rule the
Day; hereby denoting the Sun; in which the verbal ſenſe of
Scripture agreeth with the Truth of the Thing; For that the Sun
is the Greateſt of all Luminaries, and Globes. But that which
followeth immediately after, And the leſſer Light to rule the
Night, meaning the Moon, cannot be taken in the true and real
ſenſe of the words: For the Moon is not the leſſer Light, but
Mercury; which is not only much leſſer than the Moon, but alſo
than any other Star. And if, again, it be ſaid, That the Holy
Text doth not ſpeak of the Stars, but onely of the Luminaries,
for that preſently after they are mentioned apart, And the Stars;
and that what we ſay is true touching the compariſon of the Stars
amongſt themſelves, but not in reſpect of the Luminaries, name
ly, the Sun and Moon: This reply doth diſcover a man to be
utterly ignorant in theſe Studies, and ſuch who having not the
leaſt ſmattering in them, doth conceive an abſurd and erroneous
Opinion of the Cœleſtial Bodies. For the Moon and Sun, con
ſidered in themſelves, and as they appear to us, if they ſhould
be a far greater diſtance from us, than indeed they are, would be
no other, nor would appear to us otherwiſe than Stars, as the
reſt do in the Firmament. But Great Luminaries they neither
are, nor ſeem to be, ſave only in reſpect of us: And ſo, on
the other ſide, the Stars, as to themſelves, are no other than ſo
many Suns and ſo many Moons; yet are ſo far remote from us,
that by reaſon of their diſtance they appear thus ſmall, and dim
of light, as we behold them. For the greater and leſſer diſtance
of heavenly Bodies (cæteris paribus) doth augment and diminiſh
their appearance both as to Magnitude and Light. And there
fore the words which follow in that place of Geneſis, And the
Stars (as diſtinguiſhing the Stars from the Sun and Moon) are
to be taken in no other acceptation than that which we have ſpo
ken of, namely, according to the ſenſe of the Vulgar, and the
common manner of ſpeech. For indeed, according to the truth
of the matter, all Cœleſtial Bodies, being ſhining Globes, are of
a vaſt bigneſs, to which if we ſhould be ſo neer as we are to the
Moon, they would ſeem to us of as great, yea a greater magni
tude than the Moon: As likewiſe on the contrary, if we were as
far diſtant from the Sun and Moon, as we are from them, both
Moon and Sun would ſhew but as ſtars to us. And yet the
ſplendor of the Sun would doubtleſs be greater intenſivè than
that of any other ſtar. For, although it ſhould be granted that
ſome ſtars (as thoſe of the Fixed that twinkle) do ſhine of
us, and according to vulgar eſtimation, and not according to the
true and reall exiſtence of ſuch Bodies. Secondly, in the ſpeci
fication of the Propoſition it is ſaid, The greater Light to rule the
Day; hereby denoting the Sun; in which the verbal ſenſe of
Scripture agreeth with the Truth of the Thing; For that the Sun
is the Greateſt of all Luminaries, and Globes. But that which
followeth immediately after, And the leſſer Light to rule the
Night, meaning the Moon, cannot be taken in the true and real
ſenſe of the words: For the Moon is not the leſſer Light, but
Mercury; which is not only much leſſer than the Moon, but alſo
than any other Star. And if, again, it be ſaid, That the Holy
Text doth not ſpeak of the Stars, but onely of the Luminaries,
for that preſently after they are mentioned apart, And the Stars;
and that what we ſay is true touching the compariſon of the Stars
amongſt themſelves, but not in reſpect of the Luminaries, name
ly, the Sun and Moon: This reply doth diſcover a man to be
utterly ignorant in theſe Studies, and ſuch who having not the
leaſt ſmattering in them, doth conceive an abſurd and erroneous
Opinion of the Cœleſtial Bodies. For the Moon and Sun, con
ſidered in themſelves, and as they appear to us, if they ſhould
be a far greater diſtance from us, than indeed they are, would be
no other, nor would appear to us otherwiſe than Stars, as the
reſt do in the Firmament. But Great Luminaries they neither
are, nor ſeem to be, ſave only in reſpect of us: And ſo, on
the other ſide, the Stars, as to themſelves, are no other than ſo
many Suns and ſo many Moons; yet are ſo far remote from us,
that by reaſon of their diſtance they appear thus ſmall, and dim
of light, as we behold them. For the greater and leſſer diſtance
of heavenly Bodies (cæteris paribus) doth augment and diminiſh
their appearance both as to Magnitude and Light. And there
fore the words which follow in that place of Geneſis, And the
Stars (as diſtinguiſhing the Stars from the Sun and Moon) are
to be taken in no other acceptation than that which we have ſpo
ken of, namely, according to the ſenſe of the Vulgar, and the
common manner of ſpeech. For indeed, according to the truth
of the matter, all Cœleſtial Bodies, being ſhining Globes, are of
a vaſt bigneſs, to which if we ſhould be ſo neer as we are to the
Moon, they would ſeem to us of as great, yea a greater magni
tude than the Moon: As likewiſe on the contrary, if we were as
far diſtant from the Sun and Moon, as we are from them, both
Moon and Sun would ſhew but as ſtars to us. And yet the
ſplendor of the Sun would doubtleſs be greater intenſivè than
that of any other ſtar. For, although it ſhould be granted that
ſome ſtars (as thoſe of the Fixed that twinkle) do ſhine of