What is the Great Chain of Being?

God’s creation included intelligent and relational beings like angels, people, and animals. It also included other forms of life such plants and microorganisms. The concept of the Great Chain of Being, rooted in Greek philosophy and later developed during the Middle Ages, describes a hierarchical ordering—i.e., a ranking—of all beings. God is at the top of the chain, which stretches from heaven to earth, with angels, people, animals, and lower life forms beneath Him.

Greek philosophers before the time of Jesus Christ, such as Plato and Aristotle, were among the first to discuss a hierarchy among beings in the universe. Although they didn’t use the term Great Chain of Being, they believed all things existed in a structured order. Centuries later, during the Renaissance, a period that emphasized classical literature, including the works of those philosophers, Roman Catholic theologians reengaged with this teaching. They then further developed the concept, referring to it as the “Great Chain of Being.”

While aspects of this top-down chain illustration align with biblical themes of order and the distinction between Creator and creature, other elements reflect Greek philosophy. First, Scripture affirms a basic distinction in order and role among beings. For example, as created beings, humans reflect the image of their Creator, not the other way around. In Genesis, God says, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). God’s creation of mankind suggests that He is infinitely greater than people in nature, authority, and glory (Isaiah 40:28; Romans 11:33). Thus, the chain of being correctly depicts God’s superiority to all other beings and life forms.

Angels are next on the descending chain of being. The Bible teaches that angels currently possess greater power and status than humans. For instance, about people, Hebrews 2:7 says, “You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor.” This indicates that angels are higher than humans in the present order of creation.

Human beings follow angels on the chain of being. Although God made people lower than angels, He gave humans authority over other life forms on earth. Psalm 8:6–8 says human beings have dominance over animals: “You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.” This means people hold a higher place than animals and plants in God’s creation.

Assessing the chain of being from a biblical perspective reveals three shortcomings in that model. First, the chain of being does not account for the future role of redeemed humanity. Scripture teaches that believers will one day hold a position of authority even over angels. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:3, “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” Redeemed humanity will possess a level of authority over angels that they do not currently possess.

Second, the chain of being implies the different levels of creation are isolated from each other. While God is indeed superior to and sovereign over all beings in the universe, He actively interacts with intelligent, personal beings such as angels and people. Moreover, He cares for all His creation, including animals and plants. As Jesus says in Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Third, the chain of being fails to reflect the good news the gospel: that the highest being on the chain, God Himself, entered creation as a human being. As John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” In becoming human, Jesus Christ took on the nature of a lower-ranked being in the chain, something the illustration itself doesn’t adequately explain.

Christians may use the illustration of the chain of being in a limited way, even as they understand its inadequacies.