The Devilish Details of Viruses - Book Review

 

Viruses, Pandemics, and Immunity (VP&I hereafter) by Arup K. Chakraborty and Andrew S. Shaw opens with a brief history of pandemics. Discounting the spiritual dimension of plagues at the outset only indicates the authors do not wish to address final causes (in the Aristotelean sense) but focus instead on material causes.

History is replete with viral epidemics and pandemics that all of us have heard of, such as smallpox. Smallpox has been almost eradicated in the world. But what of polio, HIV? And what about outbreaks that occur locally but do not become epidemic? The explanation is found in the microscopic domain of viruses and the human response to them.

VP&I explains what viruses consist of, and how they work. They invade the body’s own cells (since they are not cells themselves) by injecting themselves into the cells, and then use the victim cell’s machinery to reproduce themselves. That RNA viruses are hard to contain because of their genetic variability resulting in mutations, unlike DNA viruses with their more stable genetic code. Next, VP&I explains how the immune response defends us from them. Although we often get sick, this is how our natural bodily response fends off the initial attack and then remembers the defenses. Immunity thus naturally obtained may last for months, years, or a lifetime.

The spread of pandemics and  control of them is the hot topic du jour of the day. Public health practices like distancing, masking, washing, quarantining and the like mitigate virus transmission, but how well? VP&I explains the concept of R₀, which is a parameter that measures how many others a sick person will infect during the course of their illness. And then the difficult task of estimating the effect of various public health measures on reducing it. The authors explain how so-called herd immunity depends crucially on R₀. 

There are antiviral therapies that hospitals typically use when a patient is admitted, but vaccines are the current high interest item. The details of how conventional vaccines work and the novelty of the mRNA vaccines is explained, although this book was published just before the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were in mass distribution.  The history of  polio vaccines (Salk and Sabin) and the pursuit of an HIV vaccine offers some insight into previous generations’ responses, and the difficulties in developing them.

Overall, the level of detail in VP&I that is accessible to non-medical personnel is very helpful in understanding what is going on. The unknowns ought to give us pause whenever politicians (including “medical” bureaucrats) make pronouncements with an air of certainty, because of uncertain and unknown details.  But government leaders are in a hard spot, being charged with responsibility for the public welfare, to the extent that government can promote it, without knowledge needed to make wise decisions. 

VP&I provides details, but not the context, and does not attempt to address the social and political turmoil ensuing from the COVID-19 pandemic. We are commanded to submit to governing authorities, which were established by God, as God’s servants for good.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. (Romans 13:1-5, NIV)

Fortunately, we do not (in this country) have a regime anything like the Third Reich, to which reconciling this passage would be difficult. It would be healthy if those claiming infallible public health prescriptions would back off from their claim of certainty, but this should be balanced against claims of those who purport to speak for God. There are varying interpretations of Scripture (just as there are complications in nanobiology) and we should be cautious to avoid claiming the authority of Scripture for our interpretation of them. God will, in His time, judge those who rebel against Him,  and those who misuse authority. We should be humble and cautious lest we be so judged.

The Apocalyptic Unveiling of Marriage Through Scripture

 God first gave Adam and Eve to each other in Genesis 1:27-28, 2:22-24. The focus was very much on becoming one flesh and producing offspring. Although Adam and Eve were exiled from Eden, they were united in producing offspring.

 As we read of the Patriarch’s families, we do not see direct revelation of God regarding the husband-wife-concubine relationships. They had wives and concubines, and bore children. In Numbers 36:5-9, Moses dealt with a situation involving inheritance of property as it pertains to marriage. Later, Moses spoke God’s law regarding (Deuteronomy 22:13-30) legal rights for wives and women, with a focus on virginity, adultery, and rape. This provided the Israelites with a basis for dealing with situations where God’s initial paradigm for marriage is violated by human actions.

 In the Song of Songs which is Solomon’s, we read a tale of romance. A man and his fiancée entice, flirt, and ultimately consummate their marriage, with a few bumps in the road. This is a divine hint that the Hallmark Channel approach to relationship is part of the marriage process. Although the sensual aspect of of the marriage relationship is explicitly portrayed, it also shows the ups and downs due to misunderstandings, other commitments, and other people impacting their oneness. But the emphasis is on romantic games within the context of marriage.

 The first few chapters of Hosea reveal the symbolism of marriage for God’s relationship to Israel. Yahweh’s heart is broken over the unfaithfulness of His people by worship of false gods, as a husband’s grief over his wife’s adulteries (literally enacted in Hosea’s own marriage). Hosea also speaks to the enduring perseverance of the husband-wife relationship. Despite Israel’s betrayal of God, they are still married. In the last chapter, we see that despite all the pain that resulted from Israel’s unfaithfulness, He waits to bless them when they return to Him. Perseverance.

 Jesus laid down a terrifying standard of holiness for marriage. He told His listeners that whoever divorces his or her spouse forces them to commit adultery (Matthew 5:32), and whoever marries a divorced person commits adultery. (Mark 10:1-10) He effectively negated one of the aspects of Mosaic law regarding divorce. On the other hand, when confronted with a woman caught in the act of adultery, He declined to condemn her. (John 8:1-11) Grace triumphs over legalism.

 Jesus used  wedding as a symbol of the coming of His kingdom. (Matthew 22:1-14; 25:1-13) In this context, He warned His listeners to be faithful to prepare for His coming. Whether this refers to His intervention into our personal lives, or His second coming, the answer is both.

 That the relational aspect of marriage goes beyond the physical and sensual, child-bearing and rearing, and legal and moral dimensions is brought  out in 1 Corinthians 7:8-14. After Paul acknowledges the carnal dimension of marriage in the first part of the chapter, he expounds on the spiritual aspect. The husband or wife transmit holiness to their spouse and children. While there is a supernatural force (the Holy Spirit) at work, there are also the practical day-to-day words and actions of one who is committed to Christ influencing those in close contact. The practice of holiness and love are instruments of divine grace in the family.

 Paul repeated the analogy of  marriage to Christ’s relationship to the church in Ephesians 5:22-33. After quoting Genesis 2:24 (repeated by Jesus in Matthew 19:5), he uses the metaphor to give directions for the husband and wife to behave, focusing on the spiritual imperative for the quality and depth of the love the husband is to have for his wife.

 The final consummation of the church age is a wedding. (Revelation 19:7-9, 21:2, 22:17) We get a glimpse of God’s perspective of life on earth as a preparation for heaven. Our human marriages provide spectators a graphic metaphor of what Jesus and life in heaven are like. Is this primarily to encourage unbelievers to come to Christ, or to give believers a hint as to the depth and splendor of the glory to be experienced in heaven, or equal parts of both? The mystery of the consummation of that heavenly marriage is sometimes described by mystics in language we cannot relate to, but without doubt it will be glorious.

 What to us? First, that the marriage relationship goes far beyond the physical dimension, although that is the emphasis at the outset. It goes beyond the legal aspects. After the wedding comes a marriage. For it to succeed, it is first of all a covenant of shared faith. St. Paul elaborates on this in a few passages. We also see it symbolically in the trust in and obedience of both Christ and the church to the Father in heaven. Second, over the years marriage will be challenged. The determination to stick it out is the glue holding the marriage together. We make the vows ‘till death do us part’, but forty or fifty years later, was the promise kept? Finally, the day to day expression of agape in sacrificial giving is God’s character. Transmitting God’s very presence and essence through our actions. That is what it takes for marriage to meet His vision.