Condemned by Reason

Year 1569, Toledo

To His Holiness, Inquisitor-General,

Your Eminence,

The heretics of Seville have fallen. Their books burned, their tongues silenced, and yet... I find no peace in our triumph. Among their confiscated texts lay not only blasphemies but inquiries—questions posed not with malice but with reason. I have studied them in secret, as duty compels me to know my enemy. Yet the clarity of their arguments leaves me troubled.

Consider this: The rebellion of angels—how could such perfection act against omnipotence? Are we not taught that the Almighty is infinite, unassailable? What rebellion could prosper, even begin, against such power? Logic fails to reconcile this tale.

If we preach what cannot withstand reason, do we not sow doubt in our own ranks? Perhaps faith requires more than fire to endure. Perhaps it demands a foundation of unyielding truth—truth not in stories, but in what can be seen, tested, and understood.

I do not write to abandon my faith but to preserve it. Our mission falters if we persist in waging war with myth against minds sharpened by reason. Let us not fear logic, but wield it. Let us guide our flock with truths that cannot be shaken.

Yours in service,

Francisco de Albornoz