It appears to be natural for the human mind to find order and pattern in the world around us. We are actually quite good at classifying things, thereby emulating Adam naming the animals (Genesis 2.19-20).
There will be differences, naturally, in the ways we understand these patterns. Consider the colours of the rainbow — we understand them as a sequence governed by the laws of physics. My son has always had an interest in machines, and he recognises the historical development of farm tractors — a sequence best understood in terms of intelligent design. Most families are able to put together a genealogy going back several generations — this is a sequence based on ancestor-descendant relationships. Geologists refer to Mohs scale of mineral hardness which ranks common minerals in terms of what can scratch what — a purely functional sequence.
Chain of Being
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, objects in the world around us have been placed in a sequence called the ‘Great Chain of Being’. As originally conceived by the philosopher Plato, everything has a place and a purpose. Although the details varied with time, the key elements of the idea continued through the centuries. The chain connected low and insignificant objects with the highest and grandest. There was a gentle gradation from one object to the next. Although medieval philosophers and theologians debated the ‘Chain’, they mostly liked the concept. When the Royal Society was formed, Thomas Sprat, in his History of the Royal Society (1667), wrote that the task of members was to retrace the steps of creation and ‘to follow all the links of this chain, till all their secrets are open to our minds’. I find an analogy here with the children’s story about the camel and the tent — it found a way of getting its nose inside — so also this way of thinking about the world became accepted and welcomed by Christians.
