The sun's apparent size and true greatness

For things that stand far off we see as somehow smaller, and the closer we draw to them, the more we discover their true size. But with the sun, no one is closer and no one farther away; it strikes those settled in every part of the earth from an equal distance. A proof of this is that both Indians and Britons see it the same. For it does not diminish in size as it sets for those who live in the east, nor does it appear smaller as it rises for those settled toward the west; and when it is at mid-heaven, it does not differ from the view on either side. Do not let the appearance deceive you, and do not reckon that because it seems a cubit long to those who see it, it is actually that size. For the sizes of visible things naturally contract at great distances, since the power of sight cannot cross the intervening space, but is, as it were, used up in the middle, and only a small part of it reaches the visible objects. So our sight becomes small, and it makes the things seen be thought small, imposing its own condition on what is visible. Therefore sight lies, and its judgment is untrustworthy. But recall your own experiences, and you will have from yourself the proof of what I am saying. If you have ever seen from a high mountain peak a plain that is broad and level, how large did the teams of oxen appear to you? How big were the plowmen themselves? Did they not give you the impression of ants? And if from a lookout turned toward the open sea you cast your eyes upon the water, how large did the greatest of the islands seem to you? How big did one of the ten-thousand-burden cargo ships appear, carried over the dark blue sea with white sails? Did it not present an impression smaller than any dove? Because, as I said, sight is used up in the air, becomes faint, and is not sufficient for an accurate grasp of what is seen. And indeed, the greatest mountains, cut through with deep ravines, sight declares to be round and smooth, because it reaches only the projections and through weakness cannot enter the hollows between. So it does not even preserve the shapes of bodies as they are, but thinks square towers are round. Thus it is clear from every side that at the greatest distances sight receives not a distinct but a confused impression of bodies. Great, then, is the light, according to the testimony of Scripture, and infinitely greater than what appears.

And let this also be a clear sign to you of its size. Though the stars in heaven are countless in number, the light gathered from them is not enough to dissolve the gloom of night. But this one alone, appearing above the horizon—or rather, even while still expected, before it has fully risen over the earth—makes the darkness vanish, outshines the stars, and melts and disperses the air around the earth that had been fixed and packed together. From this come the morning winds and the dews that flow over the earth in clear weather. And how could it illuminate the whole earth, vast as it is, in a single moment of time, unless it cast its radiance from a great circle? Here learn the wisdom of the craftsman: how he gave it heat proportionate to this distance.