A WEEK is said to be a long time in politics. In theology, a century is rather a short time. Christian thinking has had to make a big adaptation during the past couple of hundred years, developing its faith and revealing its story on a changing stage. The world was once assumed to be at the centre of creation and less than 10,000 years old. Archbishop Ussher had calculated in the 17th century that God spoke the words “Let there be light” on an October night in 4004 BC. Modern scientific instruments, physics, chemistry, and the biological theory of evolution have blown up that small stage with its limited timescale. The gospel must now be preached in a new, evolving world.

Impossible Monsters makes the point that it was the discovery of dinosaurs, such as the iguanodon, megalosaurus, and Mary Anning’s ichthyosaurus and plesiosaurus, “Lords of the Earth” long before mankind existed, that helped shatter that old stage in the public imagination, perhaps even before it percolated through to theology. Michael Taylor has produced a greatly informative, meticulously researched, and exciting read, tracing the relationship between Christianity and the explosive effects of scientific theory.

The early 19th century was a time of great and disturbing social unrest. We read of the Anglican clergyman William Buckland championing the newly emerging discipline of geology, which seemed, to many, to hold a threat to holy scripture (particularly the book of Genesis). It is a gripping tale of a momentous period of both religious and social history. Major players in this unfolding story were the impossible monsters (a phrase coined by Kingsley), the dinosaurs that intrigued society.

This enthralling history of the conversation between science and Christianity involves a massive cast of actors; Anning, Buckland, Charles Lyall, “Strata Smith”, Gideon Mantel, George Cuvier, Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, and many more. Taylor’s attention to detail in such a large undertaking is remarkable — and extremely readable.

The Revd Adam Ford is a former Chaplain of St Paul’s School for Girls.

Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin and the war between science and religion
Michael Taylor
Bodley Head £25
(978-1-84792-678-4)
Church Times Bookshop £22.50