The wisdom of God manifested in the works of the creation [Unknown Binding]

John Ray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1977

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Unknown Binding: 405 pages
• Publisher: Dabor Science Publications; 12th ed., corr edition (1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895610361
• ISBN-13: 978-0895610362
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,946,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A CLASSIC OF "NATURAL THEOLOGY," WHICH INFLUENCED PALEY, June 30, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation... (Paperback)

John Ray (1627-1705) was an English naturalist, sometimes referred to as the father of English natural history. This book greatly influenced William Paley's Natural Theology.

Here are some representative quotations:

"the Almighty discovers more of his Wisdom in forming such a vast multitude of different sorts of creatures, and all with admirable and irreprovable art, than if he had created but a few; for this declares the greatness and unbounded capacity of his understanding."

"If the works of Nature are better, more exact and perfect than the works of Art, and Art effects nothing without reason, neither can the works of Nature be thought to be effected without Reason; for, is it not absurd and incongruous, than when thou beholdt a Statue or curious picture, thou should acknowledge that Art was used to the making of it..."

"I persuade myself, that the bountiful and gracious Author of man's being and faculties, and all things else, delights in the Beauty of his Creation, and is well pleased with the industry of Man, in adorning the Earth with beautiful cities and castles, with pleasant villages and country houses, with regular gardens and orchards..."

"the Eye is already so perfect, that I believe the reason of Man would easily have rested here, and admired at his own contrivance."

It should be noted that Ray is no fundamentalist, as he states, "As to the Scripture, when speaking of these things, it accommodates itself to the common and received opinions, and employs the usual phrases and forms of speech ... without intention of delivering any thing doctrinally concerning these points, or confuting the contrary."