Galileo Defends Nature as Truth

It is necessary for the Bible, in order to be accommodated to the understanding of every man, to speak many things which appear to differ from the absolute truth so far as the bare meaning of the words is concerned. But Nature, on the other hand, is inexorable and immutable; she never transgresses the laws imposed upon her, or cares a whit whether her abstruse reasons and methods of operation are understandable to men. For that reason it appears that nothing physical which sense�experience sets before our eyes, or which necessary demonstrations prove to us, ought to be called in question (much less condemned) upon the testimony of biblical passages which may have some different meaning beneath their words. For the Bible is not chained in every expression to conditions as strict as those which govern all physical effects; nor is God any less excellently revealed in Nature's actions than in the sacred statements of the Bible.

Notes:

Explaining why the Bible must be contradictory at times, he reveres nature as the word of God.

Folksonomies: nature science religion naturalism

Taxonomies:
/science/social science/history (0.294048)
/law, govt and politics (0.287814)
/religion and spirituality (0.256523)

Keywords:
abstruse reasons (0.915236 (neutral:0.000000)), bare meaning (0.900301 (neutral:0.000000)), absolute truth (0.867539 (neutral:0.000000)), necessary demonstrations (0.837794 (neutral:0.000000)), different meaning (0.816890 (neutral:0.000000)), biblical passages (0.813396 (neutral:0.000000)), sense�experience sets (0.804298 (negative:-0.264233)), sacred statements (0.796788 (neutral:0.000000)), physical effects (0.772276 (negative:-0.387032)), nature (0.730112 (positive:0.378596)), Bible (0.716987 (negative:-0.066474)), God (0.513605 (positive:0.439923)), words (0.501730 (neutral:0.000000)), whit (0.452679 (neutral:0.000000)), Galileo (0.445780 (positive:0.317269)), Explaining (0.427840 (positive:0.317269)), times (0.414054 (positive:0.317269)), word (0.413620 (positive:0.439923)), eyes (0.405923 (negative:-0.264233)), understanding (0.404740 (positive:0.382409)), man (0.404566 (positive:0.382409)), expression (0.404357 (negative:-0.387032)), things (0.404277 (neutral:0.000000)), actions (0.403928 (neutral:0.000000)), question (0.401920 (negative:-0.410989)), hand (0.400620 (neutral:0.000000)), laws (0.399997 (neutral:0.000000)), methods (0.399205 (neutral:0.000000))

Entities:
Bible:Organization (0.760944 (positive:0.084695)), Galileo:Person (0.410728 (positive:0.317269))

The Essential Galileo

Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Galilei , Galileo (1615), The Essential Galileo, Hackett Pub Co, Retrieved on 2011-04-19

Source Material [www.fordham.edu]

Folksonomies: history science religion letters