Literal Translation
In one’s interior… forum?
Actual Meaning
In one’s own private thought
Etymology
The ‘for’ is the Roman forum, the public place where justice was administered. In the 16th century, the ‘fors’ were courts of the Church. A distinction was made between the ‘external forum’ for the temporal jurisdiction of men and the ‘internal forum’ for the justice of souls, which remained secret to men. Today, the ‘internal forum’ has become the secret of thought, without any further notion of judgement.