I recall being told the facts of life at school by my biology master 'Slumper Jarvis'. He walked us through the rudementary workings of our bits and bobs and then told us the theory of how the bits and bobs fitted together to make new life. We looked at diagrams of gentitals and a strange plastic model of the human body that you were able to detach various parts from. It caused the inevitable adolescent giggles. (As it happens, Jason Parrot had many years earlier brought to school a copy of Desmond Morris's 'Manwatching' within which the secrets of new life could be seen in full colour). The facts of life were, so we were told and lead to believe by Slumper, all in the detail. It was quite some considerable time before I had any opportunity to contextualize all this information and I discovered it bore little relation to the experience of love and sexual intimacy. When love hits you, you soon discover you don't need to know the detail.
A lecture this week told us about the animal husbandry of camels in the ancient near east and the importance of the distinction between a one humped and two humped camels. Apparently this fascinating information has some bearing on the dating of Genesis. Hasn't this slightly missed the point? This may well be true, but for me it is a long way from knowing the love, power and grace of God who has risen from the dead to redeem all mankind. Or perhaps this just isn't the way I work and think.
Anyway, for any reading theology please don't drown in the detail, important though it is, and remember the love won for you on the Cross. Lose the love and the story and the fact that that you are part of it and you may as well be studying biology for all the difference it will make to your heart and the hearts of others. Lewis wrote "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else”
Where there's no sun it's all camels.
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