 God's sovereignty also extends to criteria of identity. “Species” (kinds or natures) are the ways we classify things. But our classifications depend on our needs and interests, and the character of the world we live in. Hence, in determining every feature of the spatio-temporal world, God has determined how things will be classified, that is, what counts as a “species” or kind. Since a thing's criteria of identity are determined by its nature or kind, God is their ultimate ground. In short, laws determine kinds and kinds determine criteria of identity. In determining laws God has therefore determined criteria of identity (“The Mind”, nos. 41, 43, and 47; Edwards 1957, vol. 6, 359f, 361f., 366f.). (One implication is that God can so arrange things that Adam and his posterity count as one thing for purposes of punishment and reward.)