That the Earth may be a Planet. Gallilæ{us} his Glaſs; the ſeventh of them be-
ing but a deceit of the eye, ariſing from
their too great nearneſs; and if a Man try,
in a clear Night, to number them diſtinctly,
he ſhall find that there will ſometimes appear
but ſix, and ſometimes more.

True indeed, the original word of this
Scripture המ’ב, does not neceſſarily imply
any ſuch number in its ſignification, but yet
our Engliſh Tranſlation renders it the ſe-
ven Stars; and if it had been expreſly ſo
in the Original too, it might have ſpoken
true enough, becauſe they are uſually eſteem-
ed of that number. And when it had been
ſaid, He made the ſeven Stars, and Orion, we
might eaſily have underſtood the words
thus: He made thoſe Conſtellations that
are commonly known unto us under ſuch
names.

From all theſe Scriptures, ’tis clearly ma-
nifeſt, that it is a frequent cuſtom for the
Holy Ghoſt to ſpeak of natural Things, ra-
ther according to their appearance and com-
mon opinion, than the truth it ſelf. Now
it is very plain, and our Enemies themſelves
do grant it, that if the World had been
framed according to the Syſteme of Coperni-
c{us}, Futurum eſſet ut vulg{us}, de Solis motu & Terræ ſtatu proinde ut nunc loquerctur. The
vulgar phraſe would have been the ſame as
now it is, when it ſpeaks of the Sun's Mo-
tion, and the Earth's ſtanding ſtill.

Wherefore ’tis not improbable, that ſuch
kind of Scripture-expreſſions, are to be un-