[evv555]

>But the fact that we can conceive of it, and that God can create it, does not mean that he did, does it?

There was an implicit belief in pre-modern thought that this is the case. That reality is a permutation of all possible forms. It's arguable that evolutionary models are a temporalized version of these beliefs.[1]

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_plenitude

[comstock]

Thanks for the link, it looks like interesting reading.

But, how are evolutionary models a version of enumerating all possible forms. The forms accessible to evolution, are not all possible forms but only evolutionary peaks that can be climbed in the fitness landscape.

[evv555]

The worldview gave explanation for why there is gradation between nature's forms. The search for "missing links" predates evolutionary theory. There was an understanding that there are intermediate forms between any two species. Evolution adds a temporal dimension to this worldview where intermediate forms unfold from one another.