FIGURE 1.

A “medieval” representation of Aristotle's “Great Chain of Being,” from the text Rhetorica Christiana, which was published and illustrated by Diego de Valadés in 1597. This image presents an early missionary perspective on the conversion of indigenous peoples it the Americas. At the top of the image is a depiction of god, underneath is the tier of angels. As more‐than‐earthly creatures, the angels are unchanging, in already perfect form they remain fixed in the layer of the clouds. Although on the right side of the image we also see the “falling” or declension of angels into devils, losing their wings as they approach the ground, the subterranean world of the devil. Below the tier of angels are the tiers of earthly life, starting with humans and then birds, fish, land animals, plants, and lastly stone and minerals. Beings of the earthly hierarchy are imperfect and thus changeable. Earthly beings can move up or down the hierarchical ladder based on their relationship to the divine, god, and thus Christianity. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Chain_of_Being_2.png .