GALILEO. 349 



ber 21, 1613) a long and eloquent letter on the subject. The original 

 of this letter was never found, although the Inquisition made diligent 

 search for it. Many authentic copies were circulated, however.* The 

 question of the place of the Bible in scientific questions is discussed. 

 Galileo is a good Catholic; the scriptures can not lie or err, he says. 

 But the expositors are fallible. They will fall into error, nay into 

 heresy, if they interpret Holy Writ literally. Both scriptures and 

 external nature owe their origin to the Divine Word. 



" It was necessary, however, in Holy Scripture, in order to accommodate 

 itself to the understanding of the majority to say many things which apparently 

 differ from the precise meaning. Nature, on the contrary, is inexorable and 

 unchangeable, and cares not whether her hidden causes and modes of working 

 are intelligible to the human understanding or not, and never deviates from 

 her prescribed laws." It appears to me, therefore, says Galileo, that no 

 effect of nature, which experience places before our eyes, or is the necessary 

 conclusion derived from evidence, should be rendered doubtful by passages of 

 Scripture which contain thousands of words admitting of various interpreta- 

 tions, for every sentence of Scripture is not bound by such rigid laws as is 

 every effect of Nature. . . . Since two truths can obviously never contradict 

 each other, it is the part of wise interpreters of Holy Scripture to take the 

 pains to find out the real meaning of its statements in accordance with the 

 conclusions regarding nature which are quite certain, either from the clear 

 evidence of sense or from necessary demonstration. As therefore the Bible, 

 although dictated by the Holy Spirit, admits ... in many passages of an 

 interpretation other than the literal one and as, moreover, we can not main- 

 tain with certainty that all interpreters are inspired by God, I think it would 

 be the part of wisdom not to allow any one to apply passages of Scripture in 

 such a way as to force them to support, as true, conclusions concerning nature, 

 the contrary of which may afterwards be revealed by the evidences of our 

 senses or by necessary demonstration. Who will set bounds to man's under- 

 standing? Who can assure us that everything that can be known in the world 

 is known already? ... I am inclined to think that the authority of Holy 

 Writ is intended to convince men of those truths which are necessary for their 

 salvation which, being far above man's understanding can not be made credible 

 by any learning, or by any other means than revelation by the Holy Spirit. 

 But that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and under- 

 standing, does not permit us to use them and desires to acquaint us in any 

 other way with such knowledge as we are in a position to acquire for our- 

 selves by means of those faculties, that it seems to me I am not bound to 

 believe, especially concerning those sciences about which the Holy Scriptures 

 contain only small fragments and varying conclusions; and this is precisely 

 the case with astronomy, of which there is so little that the planets are not 

 even all enumerated 



This noble declaration of the independence of man's reason, written 

 in 1613, marks the highest insight yet reached by the human spirit in 

 this regard. It is the greatest product of Galileo's philosophical 

 genius. It was written in haste, he says, yet its form is perfect and 



* The letter was subsequently expanded and addressed in its new form to 

 the Grand Duchess Christine (1614). 



