Have you heard the one about the king buried in a car park in Leicester? The astonishing story of the discovery of the remains of Richard III in such ignominious surroundings does sound a bit like the start of a joke. But, it turns out, it is the real deal. They have even located some modern day descendants and matched DNA samples with those taken from the skeleton. This, together with the deformity in his spine that corresponds with contemporary accounts, make it virtually certain that these are indeed the mortal remains of a king of England.
Astonishing as it is that DNA analysis can be carried out on 500 year-old bones, it is reported this week that isotope analysis of bone and tooth samples have also revealed what the unfortunate king had for his dinner. Apparently he had a taste for wild egret, swan and pike and washed these down with a bottle of wine every day. Fantastic! Shame it only lasted 2 years and ended in a council car park.
That such detail is obtainable from such apparently unpromising material is testament to the incredible advance of science. In my lifetime forensic science has developed from dusting for fingerprints to the ability to positively identify an individual hundreds of years after his death – and then to tell you what he had for dinner! Even Sherlock Holmes would have been impressed.
I find it sad, however that such amazing advances have been matched, not by increasing astonishment at the Designer who implanted such detail into His creation, but by a growing rejection of the possibility of the divine. Colleagues of those who discovered Richard III, on finding a few scratches upon a standing stone or the wall of a cave would unhesitatingly attribute them to an intelligent author or artist. Yet scientists regularly look at chemical codes of incredible complexity. Codes which are not dictated by the chemical structure – for your DNA is different to mine and to every other individual who has ever lived. Yet, we are told that this chemical code has arisen from “chance and necessity”. No wonder the apostle Paul spoke of those who are, “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” The Lord Jesus spoke of the weather forecasters of His time, “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”
What about you. Have you closed your mind to the obvious – that an astonishing creation demands that there is an astonishing Creator? Or, are you willing to accept that “there is a God in heaven” and that it is possible to know Him if only we will “seek after Him”?