Book excerpt: AN Earthy Look At Christianity. Many biblical terms have a consistent symbolic significance from Genesis to Revelation eg nudity, light and darkness, virgins, harlots. Nudity occurs in three of the most significant events in the whole Bible, and in every case it is best understood symbolically. This book demonstrates that symbolism is so powerful it can, for example, change the status of Isaiah's virgin birth prophecy from an absurdity to an astonishing fulfilment of prophecy. Harlots (described in the book as God's warning lights) also figure very prominently in the biblical coverage of both Jews and Christians. Another key theme is to show that the raw seed-concepts of the Hebrew Bible evolve so neatly into the Christian New Testament viewpoint over a 1000+ years that readers may conclude uninspired biblical script writers could not have organized it. Here are some quotes from the book that introduce intriguing and/or provocative new trains of thought: 1 "If you think linking sex with religious experience is a bit rich then you need to do some more Bible study." 2 "Indulgence in adultery is the most obvious of the sins proscribed in the Ten Commandments that could trace directly to hormonal influences." 3 "Should we be joining Haters Anonymous, Schadenfreude Anonymous or Egotists Anonymous . . in order to qualify for a better land and to actually enjoy it." 4 "Some of our excretory functions are less than ideal for a brand new earth . . the creator team could have done better by us . . if they wanted to." 5 "It is tacitly assumed God did not conduct experiments in His creation efforts. No need to . . He knows the end from the beginning! But . . ." Other challenging insights emerge in connection with Lot's use of his daughters as sex-sops, the possible symbolic significance of the Mosaic decree to cut off a lady's hand if she squeezed testicles, the massaging of data in St Matthew's genealogies, a religious uncertainty principle, and the reason God doesn't do something to stop the frightful things happening in the world. This is not a book built on hype and emotion.It makes extensive use of scholarly sources but has a light-hearted journalistic approach and is easy to read. In exploring the spiritual import of sexual issues in nature and revelation it offers fresh perspectives on the bitter creation-evolution debate, the gross and genocidal behavior of the chosen people, the currently unacceptable biblical restrictions on human sexual behavior, and the decidedly low-key role of women in organized religion. Innovative, succinct, engaging, thought-provoking, and sometimes shocking!