Kant's aim in the essay Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens shows that the main elements of the entire observable universe, laying bare the basic structure that governs the universe. Kant does this in a preparatory section and three parts. In the preface, he is primarily interested in explaining why the view he wants to defend not only represents no threat to religious orthodoxy. In the first part, Kant draws an analogy between the structure of our solar system and that of the Milky Way and then between the Milky Way and the fixed stars. The second part explains the formation of the various significant bodies in our solar system their most distinctive features. In the third part, Kant concludes his treatment by engaging in fanciful speculation about the inhabitants of the other planets of our solar system, and returns to the theological context.

The history of medieval thought could be written in terms of limitations demanded from reason to make room for faith. The church would be depicted as an inherently thought-curbing institute that constantly and efficiently exerted pressure on intellectuals for the defence of orthodoxy. The study of the relationship between faith and reason has been overshadowed by the censorial act of the condemnation of 219 propositions in philosophy and theology by Bishop Stephen Tempier. The condemnation was portrayed as a response to the unbearable challenges to faith posed by the absorption of non-Christian philosophical learning. Jean Buridan alternated his metaphysics to accommodate the separability of accidents dictated by the doctrine of faith. The case of Albert the Great discussion of sodomy is another example of self-censorship that demonstrates the inability or unwillingness of intellectuals to disengage their thought from the constraints of orthodox religion. There were several strategies adopted by different intellectuals to legitimise physiognomy.