Exhortations

B 2

... [stars]; but on the contrary, you will find the Moon bathed in moisture, and the rotation of the stars around their own center. Rheita Anton Maria Schyrleus de Rheita (1604–1660) was a Capuchin astronomer and optician who improved telescope design. and Wendelin Godefroy Wendelin (1584–1667) was a Flemish astronomer known for his observations of the Jovian moons and the distance to the Sun. followed him [Scheiner], who—supported by their own experience and the aid of the "celestial eye" A common metaphor for the telescope in 17th-century Latin.—have confirmed this; the former in his Eye of Enoch and Elijah Original: "Oculo Enoch & Eliæ." This was the title of Rheita's major 1645 astronomical work, named after the biblical figures said to have been taken up to heaven. and the latter in various astronomical treatises. They proved it so thoroughly that I would say a philosopher who wished to maintain the contrary opinion should be considered not someone of powerful intellect, but rather of a hardened mind.

If, therefore, the Holy Fathers, by the light of reason alone drawn from the sacred fountains, proved the liquid and corruptible nature of the heavens The author argues the heavens are "liquid" (fluid like air or water) rather than "solid" (crystalline spheres), and "corruptible" (subject to change) rather than "immutable." with such weight of arguments and attempted with such effort to persuade others; what would we think they would have achieved if they had been equipped with the observations of this time?

Certainly, Scheiner, Mersenne Marin Mersenne (1588–1648), a French polymath often called the "post-box of Europe" for his extensive scientific correspondence., and others prove at length that Aristotle was the first among all philosophers of past centuries to assert the solidity of the heavens, to confuse the world with intricate envelopes of spheres, and to introduce a fifth essence: the "quintessence" or aether, which Aristotle claimed made up the unchanging heavens, distinct from the four earthly elements not graspable by any intellect. For this reason, they consider it—if not wicked—at least reckless to believe this pagan sophist The author uses "Ethnico Sophiſtæ" (pagan sophist) as a derogatory label for Aristotle to diminish his authority compared to the Church Fathers. more, and to value his authority more than that of the Holy Fathers.

Thus, having examined the sources of Holy Scripture regarding celestial science, as well as the most learned explanations of the Holy Fathers on Genesis and other passages of the sacred text relevant to this matter; and having also combined these with the marvelous observations of the most keen philosophers and astronomers of this time—