A Defense of the Introduction to a True and Unheard-of Physics

...then should an Element be granted? original: tum detur Elementum? This is based on the Wisdom of Solomon itself and other Holy Scriptures that establish and approve of a plurality of Elements.

But this is the method of those who strive to extricate themselves through kenophygetaA Greek-derived term meaning "empty escapes" or "futile refuges." It refers to using clever but hollow arguments to avoid a difficult proof.. What occurs to them as impossible to prove by learned reason, they attribute either to occult qualities original: occultas Qualitates; properties of matter that are not immediately apparent to the senses, often used as a catch-all explanation in pre-modern science., or to the authority of some weighty author.

In this way, the anonymous author seeks refuge and asylum in the Holy Scriptures and the book of the Wisdom of Solomon—although in the Church of Christ it is considered apocryphaloriginal: apokryphon; referring to books not included in the standard biblical canon; the author is pointing out that this book's authority is contested.—in order to obtain from them his plurality of Elements, while truly confounding their unity. This, in my judgment, is not the mark of a learned man or a Philosopher.

This is especially true since the Holy Scriptures do not reveal the physical nature of bodies to believers, but rather the salvation of the soul. Therefore, by no truly literate person is Holy Scripture handed down as an infallible foundation for Physics, but rather as a foundation and argument for Faith. For in natural matters, the sacred page mostly speaks according to common opinionoriginal: opinione vulgari; the idea that the Bible uses everyday language and the common perceptions of its time rather than scientific or technical precision..

Far from the palm of victory being offered to the anonymous author by this excuse (though he boasts that Holy Scripture stands on his side), the Holy Scripture itself...