The publication of The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation in 1691 was a literary sensation. Taking its title from Psalm 104:24, the book went through over 20 editions in the next 150 years and remains the most popular work of its author, John Ray. Critics marveled at its comprehensive coverage of virtually the whole natural world, but Ray intended it to be more than a mere compendium of ecological facts. As a Christian minister and scientist, he longed that others would see the great design of the Creator in the wonder of His creation.

By the 17th century the momentum of new learning inspired by the Renaissance had stalled, encumbered by a blind acceptance of past authorities and the frequent recourse to superstition to explain the natural world. However a breakthrough came in 1620, when Francis Bacon proposed the concept of scientific investigation based on observation, experimentation, and analysis of facts.1 This approach had a profound influence on John Ray.

Ray’s interest in the making and function of things can be traced to his upbringing as the son of a blacksmith, while he inherited his religious faith and interest in plants from his mother. He entered Cambridge University in 1644, eventually becoming a lecturer in Greek and Mathematics. However an illness forced him to recuperate in the countryside, and rural life reawakened his interest in botany. Several field trips and endless note taking resulted in the publication of his first book, “A Catalogue of Cambridge Plants,” in 1660, which aimed “to illustrate the glory of God in the knowledge of the works of Nature or Creation . . .”2

This purpose shaped the rest of Ray’s life. Through years of traveling, patient observation, and limitless reading, he built up a vast knowledge of British and European flora. He made an immense contribution to the science of plant classification and became the first person to use the terms “petal” and “pollen” and to distinguish between plants with one or two seed leaves, a division still in use today.3 His massive The History of Plants was the first modern botanical textbook, with the third volume alone containing over 10,000 entries. He quickly earned the title of “the great botanist of our age.”4

In addition to botany, modern zoology owes an enormous debt to Ray. Books on birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, and insects flowed from his pen, each marked by schemes of classification and careful description. But this was not science for science’s sake. Writing on butterflies, he commented, “To gaze . . . at such elegance of colour and form designed by the ingenuity of nature and painted by her artist’s pencils is to acknowledge and adore the imprint of the art of God.”5

Christians look at the environment through eyes of faith because they have a personal relationship with the Creator. At a time when believers are mocked for their view of the natural world, ministers can hold up Ray as an example to their congregations of someone whose faith motivated his insatiable and rigorous scientific work. As a result of all his energy, believers have a richer knowledge and appreciation of the designs of their God.
Footnotes:
1

John Gribbin, Science: A History 1543-2001 (London: Penguin Books, 2003), 134-136.
2

Stuart A. Baldwin, John Ray: Essex Naturalist (Silver End: Baldwin Books, 1986), 26.
3

“Who Was John Ray?” The John Ray Initiative Website, www.jri.org.uk/ray/cal/linnaeus.htm (accessed September 30, 2004).
4

Baldwin, 43.
5

Ibid., 57.

article adopted from Karios Journal

First Baptist Church is located in Perryville one and a half miles east of Rt. 222.