Scripture and Science

The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation

By: John Ray

Collection ID

PBK.006207

Type

Printed Book

Date

1750

Geography

Scotland

Language

English

Medium

Printed on Paper

Dimensions

6.7 × 4.3 × 1.4 in. (17 × 11 × 3.5 cm)

Exhibit Location

Not on View

John Ray was an English naturalist who made significant contributions to botany and zoology. His innovative taxonomies of plants and animals shaped both fields moving forward. Ray also wrote numerous religious texts. In his 1691 The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation, Ray argued that the complexity and wonder of the natural world demand the existence of a creator. Although the argument from design (or teleological argument) predated Ray by millennia, appearing in the writings of Christians and non-Christians alike, Ray’s work contributed to a surge in its popularity. An entire field known as “physico-theology” soon emerged, aiming to demonstrate the necessary connection between design in nature and a divine designer. This is the fourteenth edition of Ray’s text.

Printed in 1750 by William Duncan Junior, Glasgow, Scotland.[1] Acquired by 2020 by Ted Steinbock, private collector, Louisville, Kentucky; Privately purchased in 2020 by Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.

Notes: [1] A name inscribed on the flyleaf in an early modern hand has not yet been identified.

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