Sir David Attenborough and Prince Charles – to name but two – are busy making sure that we have a proper respect for nature. Not all will go so far as to talk to the plants in their gardens, nor will everybody welcome a re-wilding programme that aims to restore predators red in tooth and claw to the landscape. What is likely to gain widespread approval is the idea that we humans are animals with animal instincts and animal appetites. If we fail to acknowledge that, we live in a make-believe world that has a serious misunderstanding about human nature.
That does not mean that we kow-tow to the Great God Nature. If it is not exactly pantheism, an overblown respect for nature is putting something very much like God in a pivotal place in a secular society that is looking for coherence and order. A respect, worship almost, for the numinous that crumples human midgets contemplating a stretch of mountains or the vastness of the cosmos is an unsurprising reaction given a frail observer.
Dryden said of Shakespeare: ‘He needed not the spectacles of books to read Nature.’ Indeed, yes. If we want to explore human nature we can hardly do better than go to school with Shakespeare. But that is not the end of the matter. Words matter. And there is evidence that is not revealed by the geologist’s hammer, the archaeologist’s spade or the astronomer’s telescope. There is everyday common sense. There is the biblical anthology.
True, the Christian title deeds are not the only evidence of this kind. Of making many books there is no end. But when we consider the influence of the Christian faith in our calendar and in the rise and fall of empires, we can hardly ignore what we find as we go from Genesis to Revelation. We can hardly deny that here is material that claims the attention of serious inquirers.
Serious inquiry does not mean that we start on page one of the Bible and read on. Better to start with, say, with Psalm 8 and then turn to Colossians 1.13-20. A learner-drive is not encouraged to make an impulsive start in top gear. He is better advised to be deliberate, to be slow but sure. What is true of life on the road is true of life in the spirit.
If you have a comment on this post please send an email to Revd John King. Edited extracts may be published. To forward this to a friend click on the chain icon below.
Comments