“Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”

People speak of “the dignity of man.” But how little do they know, usually, whereof they speak!

As humanity generally conducts itself, little of that dignity is apparent. Yet the true potential of man is utterly and incredibly beyond his ken.

DIGNITY of Man?

Ringing silently in my ears, as I write, are those strains from one of the lively choruses of Handel’s Messiah, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” (quoted from Isaiah 53:6). Yes, as Paul was inspired to write, “all have sinned.”

Man, by his own thought and actions, has contributed only conversely to any commendable dignity. He has polluted, contaminated, perverted, abused, ruined, misused everything a benevolent God has placed within reach of his hands. He has rejected and rebelled against his Maker.

Why, then, should the great God be concerned about man? The psalmist asked that question (Psalm 8:4-6). David’s answer was, “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands …” (verse 6). But the whole truth is not revealed in that Old Testament passage. David merely included the dominion God gave Adam and his descendants—dominion over the animals and the land, over the fish and the seas, and over the fowls and the air—as far as Earth’s atmosphere extends.

That is all the dominion God has given mortal man—yet! And man has polluted and misused it all! Not satisfied with that, man is now seeking to extend his dominion beyond the jurisdiction God assigned. Today man is venturing off limits. He has already made repeated landings on the moon and returned to Earth, and now speaks of landing on Mars or other planets.

But man is simply getting in too big a hurry! He is striving to “take over” what he has not fitted himself to manage, and before it has been made lawfully his!

For what man does not know is that—if he first qualifies for the trust—it has been God’s intention all along to place not only the moon and Mars, but the whole vast, limitless universe under his jurisdiction!

The whole answer to David’s question was not given in the Old Testament. It is revealed in the New! But the religious leaders of man have never caught the overwhelming truth. To minds hostile to God’s authority, it would seem too incredible to accept. So they read right over the glorious revelation of the true potential dignity of man!

Even though explained in Chapter 5, this answer needs repetition!

Here, then, is the full answer to the psalmist’s question.

Repeating the question, God inspired, through Paul, “What is man, that thou [God] art mindful of him? …” And the answer, “Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet” (Hebrews 2:6-8). Just what do these words, “all things,” mean? They mean just what they say—ALL THINGS—the entire vast, limitless UNIVERSE! Read the next words! “For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him” (verse 8).

But how about the fact that, to Adam, God did limit man’s dominion to the land, the seas and the atmosphere of the Earth?

The last sentence of this same 8th verse explains: “But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus … crowned with glory and honour …” (verses 8-9). In verse 10 Jesus is called the “captain”—the Leader—the Pioneer who has gone on before—of our salvation!

And just how, and in what capacity do we now see Jesus?

We see Him (Hebrews 1:2-3) in power and glory, “upholding all things by the word of his power.” Look at the plain English translation of “all things” in the more modern Moffatt translation: “sustains the universe with his word of power.” (Also the Revised Standard Version.)

Yes, Jesus Christ, the “firstborn among many brethren,” is now on the very throne that governs the entire universe—He now controls every power, every force, every energy that exists! And He has merely pioneered the way! We, if we yield to God and His government, may, through Christ, be reconciled to the great God, and become co-heirs with Christ, to inherit, after our resurrection, everything He already has inherited!

And that is the true potential dignity of man!

Truly, most men who prate around in their vanity about “the dignity of man” little comprehend the real meaning of those words! Man must first turn around and go the other way—he must repent—for he has been traveling in the wrong direction! He must go God’s way. He must first qualify, before God will entrust him with the government of the universe!

HOW Wonderfully Made?

For this mortal life, the Creator made us out of physical substance, and confined us to this physical Earth. But He made us in His likeness—even though now merely the clay to be refashioned, shaped and molded into His own spiritual character!

For this purpose, even our clay bodies were made to work in a most miraculous fashion.

As David also said, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm 139:14).

Of course the most fearfully and wonderfully made part of man is his mind. That is something the brute animals do not have!

Yet the mind requires a body to keep it functioning, that man may fulfill his tremendous destiny. He requires legs and feet to transport him. He needs arms and hands to make and do what his mind directs. He needs the life-sustaining apparatus—digestive, circulatory, respiratory systems. He needs the nervous system. And he also needs the genital or sex system.

Man has gone astray in this area of sex, as he has in every other possible way. But the fact that man has, by wrong choice of mind, misused, abused and perverted this genital system does not alter the fact that what God designed was very good. And it was intended to be—and indeed can be, if we are right-minded—put to most honorable and glorious use.

We can, as mentioned before, glorify God in our bodies—by preserving them for God-intended uses and functions. Young people glorify God by keeping their bodies undefiled as God made them, until a right and proper and God-joined marriage. And the married—by the uses God intended and instructed for the very great joy of love in marriage, and the happiness of home and family!

We have covered, in an elementary way, the generative glands God fashioned in both male and female bodies. Truly, they are wonderfully and fearfully made!

The Female Ducts

So now we come to the ducts, or tubes, which transport both ova and spermatozoa from their “laboratories” for conception and gestation of humans who may become the very heirs of God.

Since we have just finished explaining about the marvelous manner in which the infinitesimal ova are literally shot from the ovary into the open funnel of the oviduct, we shall continue, now, with this duct connecting the ovary with the uterus.

This oviduct, which transports the ova, is called the Fallopian tube. As there are two ovaries—one on each side of the uterus, there are also two Fallopian tubes.

Ova do not possess, in themselves, power of motility, as do spermatozoa. Once the carnation-shaped funnel, at the entrance of the oviduct, opens to receive the ovum shot into it, the ovum travels very slowly on its journey through the Fallopian tube. This tube is made up of a three-layer wall, with fine tentacles. When the ovum bursts out of its follicle and into the entrance funnel of the tube, it is like a hen’s egg without a shell. Not according to size, of course. It is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. But uncovered by its membranous envelope it would soon perish if it were not immediately covered and protected by an albuminous substance in the Fallopian tube.

The infinitesimal tentacles along the interior membrane of the tube very slowly propel this human egg cell on its way toward the womb. This journey through the Fallopian tube is said by the doctors and scientists to require approximately eight days!

Consequently, since most authorities believe the life of the ovum is limited—some say to only 24 hours—unless met and fertilized by a sperm cell, all scientific opinion today asserts that impregnation must take place in the Fallopian tube. And that, before the egg cell has proceeded far on its passage through the tube.

The Womb

The two Fallopian tubes lead to the womb, or uterus. In medical parlance, this organ is still called by its ancient name, womb, about equally with the use of the more modern term, uterus. It is a pear-shaped organ, with the wider end at the top, and the Fallopian tubes enter it at this wider top portion. It is suspended by cords and muscles from above, and its downward-hanging neck, called the cervix, enters into the vagina.

The urinary bladder is located just in front of the uterus. The normal position of the womb is to incline or tip slightly forward from the bottom—almost at a right angle from the vaginal canal.

The purpose of the uterus is to receive, house, protect and nourish the fertilized ovum, or embryo. After four months it is called a fetus. At approximately nine months, it is born as a human baby—with all the overwhelming potentiality to which he may become heir!

In its quiescent state, the uterus is hard and muscular, its walls so close together that actually there is no real uterine cavity.

In nonpregnancy the uterus is about 2 inches wide at the top, 1 inch thick and 3 inches long.

Menstruation

Once each 28 days (on the average), a congestion occurs in the uterus preparing for reception of a fertilized ovum. If the ovum is not fertilized in the Fallopian tube, then, about 14 days after ovulation (discharge of the ovum from the ovary), the uterus sheds the special mucous lining prepared in readiness for the embryo. This slight hemorrhage then escapes through the cervix and the vagina.

This monthly process is called menstruation. It begins at the age of puberty—average around 14—though sometimes a little later or earlier. Menstruation continues until the menopause.

This monthly emission of blood in females was formerly supposed to be a periodic purging of poisonous accumulations. That, of course, is not the fact at all.

If the ovum is fertilized, then the mucous lining specially formed in the womb receives the embryo and performs its important function.

The average menstrual cycle is about 28 days. However, it may vary from 21 to 35 days—and occasionally there are much wider variations. The average duration of the menstrual flow is about five days—but it may vary from three to seven.

The Male Ducts

We now return to the male seminal ducts.

As previously described, the tiny convoluted tubules of the testes converge ultimately into the epididymis, where all tubules unite into the one seminal duct, termed the vas deferens. The vas deferens, then, is a continuation of the epididymis. Passing from the scrotum into the body, the vas deferens runs alongside lymphatic vessels and nerves, arteries and veins, and these combined form the spermatic cord.

Spermatozoa are transported through the vas deferens to the seminal vesicles. This is done by repeated contractions.

Immediately under the bladder, and surrounding the urethra, is the prostate gland. It is between 11/4 and 11/2 inches in diameter, globular-shaped. The urethra, the urinary tube or duct, passes through it. This gland secretes the prostatic fluid—milky-white and alkaline.

Formerly the so-called “authorities” thought that the entire seminal fluid was produced in the prostate. More recent speculation of the “experts,” however, tends toward the belief that a certain fluid is formed in the epididymis, assisting in transporting the spermatozoa through the vas deferens. In any event, it is claimed that sperm cells do not possess their full motility until they reach this alkaline prostatic fluid, which serves both to preserve spermatozoa and stimulate motility.

The vas deferens enters into the prostate gland, and through it into the urethra. Of course they are a pair, one entering on each side. Also at this point of entry into the prostate is a sort of reservoir, or elongated bladder. There are also two of these, called seminal vesicles. Each vesicle joins as one tube with the vas deferens at the point of entry into the prostate gland. They then form a single tube through the prostate, entering the urethra. The urethra is the tube through which urine passes from the bladder, and on out through the penis.

Until the last decade or two, medical science supposed these seminal vesicles to be reservoirs, or elongated oval bladders in which the seminal fluid was stored until ejaculation. And probably they were right.

But many today think that the seminal vesicles produce a fluid of some sort, which, mixing with fluids secreted in the epididymis and the prostate gland, form the seminal fluid in which the spermatozoa swim.

However, it seems that all experiments have been made post mortem—on dead bodies. Some doctors say candidly, therefore, that they cannot be sure.

The “authorities,” as usual, are postulating—and many assume their theories to be fact. I am not an authority. The one infallible Authority does not tell us. I am inclined to believe, then, that the seminal fluid is produced in the prostate gland, and stored in these vesicles.

Actually the answers to such questions are not pertinent to the object of this book. I merely mention such technical details as a matter of interest, and an example of the very questionable “authority” of the human “authorities.”

These men, “[p]rofessing themselves to be wise” (Romans 1:22), reject as foolishness the one reliable Authority. In so doing, God says they become fools!

But let me remind you again, God does not reveal all knowledge through the Bible. It is the foundation of all knowledge—the foundation on which to build. It reveals only what man needs to know and cannot otherwise learn. But also it tells us that there are some things which prick human curiosity to great and costly speculation, but which God hides from mortal minds because such knowledge is for us unnecessary.

“The secret things belong unto the [Eternal] our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us …” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

The purpose of this book, after all, is to give the reader that vital knowledge which is necessary for right, happy and abundant living; the knowledge of the origin and causes of harmful attitudes toward sex; the knowledge of the right and intended attitude toward, and purposes of sex; the knowledge so necessary for fullest happiness in adolescent and premarital conduct; the knowledge so essential to marital and family happiness.

The Copulative Organs

And so finally, in describing the genital systems, we come to the organs of copulation.

The copulative organ in the male is a fleshy, muscular organ, or shaft, composed principally of erectile tissue, called the penis.

In the normal quiescent condition, it hangs limp and retired. In size, like human noses, ears, hands and other organs, there is variation in different individuals. Average, in the quiescent state, is 3 to 4 inches in length, about an inch in diameter. Rigidity, however, is necessary for sexual union.

Some uninformed young people believe that “fecundation, if not impossible, is at all events very difficult if the semen is deposited on or in the external genital organs and not in the vagina itself.” But authorities and numerous case histories—a number of which have been brought to me for serious counseling, advice and spiritual help—prove positively that this belief is in serious error. In these case histories, unwed girls, going too far in what they had been led to believe was harmless and socially accepted “petting” or lovemaking, found they were physically in the condition of the prophecy, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive.” But spiritually they were at the opposite extreme from the position of the virgin Mary. What was conceived in them was not by God’s Holy Spirit, but by plain fornication! And though they were still virgins physically, their hymen unbroken, they certainly were not spiritually!

I will have more to say about this later, at the proper time, as a serious warning to the unmarried.

The truth is, penetration of the vagina is not necessary for reproduction, even though it renders the likelihood of pregnancy far greater. But this penetration is, in the purpose of the Holy Creator, far more desirable for the expression of God-blessed marital love. And therefore there was, as always in what the Creator does, purpose in designing the male member for arousal to rigidity.

The urethra extends from the bladder, pierces directly through the prostate gland, and continues down the lower or under side the full length inside the penis. Above the urethra, continuing through the shaft, are two spongy cavernous bodies, called corpora cavernosa. Along the underside a spongy portion surrounds the urethra. Through the length of the organ run blood vessels, and sensitive nerves. At the anterior end is the head of the penis, called the glans penis. The glans has a close network of peripheral nerves, and is the seat of erotic sensation in the male.

The corpora cavernosa are so called because they contain a system of caverns. In the flaccid, quiescent state, they are almost empty. But under sexual arousal, they become gorged with blood—and also to a much greater than normal extent the spongy area surrounding the urethra. The organ then swells, and becomes stout and hard. In the erect condition, the size will vary from perhaps 5½ to 7 inches in length and 1¼ to 1½ inches in diameter, and in some rare cases slightly larger.

It might be well, here, to correct two baseless fears that occasionally trouble (or perhaps formerly, prior to the “New Morality” advent did trouble) an otherwise happy “cloud nine” bride-to-be.

Some seemed to fear that a very large husband will produce abnormally large babies, making the delivery difficult or dangerous at birth. The size of parents has never proved to have any connection with the size of babies at birth.

Some young women became a little frightened, fearing that the penis of the future husband might prove to be too large for normal and easy penetration, and that this might cause pain during coitus. But the Creator designed the female vagina with great distensibility. It expands to allow the passage of the head and shoulders of a baby being born—and no male penis is anywhere near that large. True, countless wives have suffered pain—but only through ignorance. If we had come by evolution, we might have cause for all kinds of worries. But since a benevolent and all-intelligent God made us as we are, He simply took care of those things! God made no mistakes. Of course, through heredity resulting from transgression of God’s laws, there may be, rarely, people born with abnormal conditions in the generative organs. But the average person need have no fears.

Truth about Circumcision

Difficulties in marital love result from ignorance, and from transgression of God’s laws—never from inadequacies on the part of the great Designer. It is the purpose of this book to dispel those ignorances, and to make clear the laws set in motion for human happiness and joy.

Before leaving explanation of the male organs of copulation, a word about circumcision.

The glans penis is covered with a foreskin, called the prepuce. The size of the prepuce varies. In many if not most cases, it is loose, and barely covers the glans. In rare cases the prepuce is longer, and its orifice so small and tight it imprisons the glans. Under erection the foreskin may not be able to slip back behind the glans—or, if it does, it might, under the swelling of erection, bring about a sort of strangulation of the glans. The solution is, simply, circumcision.

Under the Old Covenant, God made circumcision obligatory under law in Israel. Under the New Covenant, circumcision, ordained forever, is physically, but not spiritually, abolished. The Apostle Paul instructs that circumcision, as a religious rite, is no longer physical but spiritual—of the heart—not of the flesh.

Yet, while it is no longer commanded by God as a physical religious rite, it most certainly is allowed, and for pure physical and sanitary reasons, I do most strongly recommend it for all boy babies!

Between the prepuce and the glans of the uncircumcised boy—or man—is secreted a tallow-like substance, called smegma. Left uncleansed this may cause inflammation and trouble. It is, therefore, necessary, in the case of an uncircumcised male baby, for the mother to regularly push the prepuce back behind the glans penis, and wash it; and as he grows old enough, the boy must be taught to do this regularly. This very need for sanitation causes irritation of the very seat of voluptuous sensation. It is very likely to stimulate sex arousal, and lead to masturbation. This has been the chief cause of a serious “sex problem” in the lives of countless young men prior to marriage.

The prepuce forms a protective covering over the easily aroused sensation-producing glans—yet, instead of actually “protecting” it, the cleansing need produces just the opposite. The glans of the uncircumcised boy or man is exceedingly tender and sensitive. After circumcision, the glans gradually loses much of its sensitiveness, until the touch or rubbing of underclothing over it produces no more sensitiveness than clothing does to any other part of the body. Still, the circumcised enjoy all the voluptuous pleasure God made possible in marital coitus.

Some uncircumcised young men, plagued by the masturbation habit formed earlier in life than they can remember, have either had themselves circumcised, or learned to wear the prepuce behind the glans—giving them the same effect as circumcision—so as to lose the tender extra-sensitiveness of the glans and thus lessen the tendency of arousal and constant temptation.

I repeat—it is not now a physical religious command—but when God circumcised Abraham at age 99, and commanded it forever (Genesis 17:9-14), for his descendants—both Israelitish and Arab—it could not have been harmful. And even though the method of the rite as a religious command is transferred from a physical to a spiritual means, I am sure I have the approval of the Lord in making the most urgent recommendation for circumcision, for sanitary, health and moral protection.

Circumcision, moreover, is coming to be widely practiced today for these very sanitary reasons. Whether or not the obstetrician advises it, I urge all parents to demand it.

Another thing—it is becoming custom of obstetrical doctors today to perform the circumcision at time of birth. Do not permit this! God instructs that it be done on the eighth day—the day the baby is eight days old—which is eight days after birth, or actually the ninth day of his life. The baby is one day old on the second day of his life, not the first, which is the day he is born! (Genesis 17:12).

The only reason doctors are turning to the practice of performing circumcision at the time of delivery is their own selfish convenience! And so they simply reason around the idea—and will so advise patients—that it makes no difference. They simply do not want to be bothered the second time, on the eighth day. Perhaps I am a little blunt in saying this. But I have no patience with such selfish consideration only for self-convenience, and inconsideration for patient and child! Demand it, or go to a different doctor!

One other thing still. Some doctors today are cutting off too much foreskin—or all of it. Simply tell the doctor to leave a little of it. If he asks you if you are taking it on yourself to tell him his business—well, I think I’d simply decide he didn’t know his profession and go to one who does! Perhaps I’m blunt. I do urge you to be courteous and diplomatic, of course—but to be politely firm! I do know whereof I speak! If too much, or all of the foreskin is cut off, the skin is drawn back from the point of joining with the glans on erection, and this causes undue arousal and temptation.

Female Copulative Organs

The external genital region of the female, or pubic region, is called the vulva. This term includes all the external genitals collectively—all visible from without.

Connecting the womb with the external genitals is the vagina. The term means a sheath. It is a tube, or canal, the special copulative organ of the female, serving the specific act of coitus. The bottom rounded neck of the womb projects into the posterior end of the vagina. The direction of the vagina is downward and forward from the uterus, almost at a 90-degree angle with the axis of the uterus.

The interior walls of the vagina are corrugated in folds, making these walls elastic and subject to being stretched, especially during delivery of a baby.

Textbooks used by doctors half a century ago indicated that the vagina is 6 to 7 inches in length. More recent texts list it as 3 to 4 inches in depth, but with the explanation that, during intercourse, the penis forces the womb upward—the vaginal wall being sufficiently elastic to permit full entrance.

At the anterior opening of the vagina, the mucous membrane forming its lining continues as the membrane of the inner small lips, termed labia minora.

The semicavity inside the minor labia is termed the vestibule. Just above the vaginal opening is the orifice of the urethra, the passage from the bladder. Above the opening of the urethra, at the top of the labia minora, is the clitoris. This will be principally described later—and its function.

Actually, the clitoris is much like a miniature male penis. It is subject to erection under sensory stimulation. It has a head, or glans, much like the glans of the penis, in miniature, filled with nerve endings. This is the seat of voluptuous sensation and sexual arousal in the female. Only the head of the clitoris is outwardly visible—its body, an inch or so in length, being covered by the membrane over the top of the labia minora.

Ignorance of this very small organ and its intended function is one of the three principal causes of unhappiness, wretchedness and utter frustration in countless millions of marriages through the centuries! This tiny organ, therefore, becomes an important matter for right understanding. And here, again, the modern “authorities” are in disagreement and in grievous error. This will be explained in a later chapter.

Finally, over the labia minora, and covering the female genitals, are the larger lips termed labia majora. They require no further description or comment here (see above).

The functions of the principal female organ of copulation, the vagina, are 1) to provide passage for the menstrual flow, 2) to receive the male member during intercourse, 3) to provide a receptacle for deposited semen and 4) to provide the passage for the birth of babies.

All these organs, and their functions, are God-designed for God-ordained purposes. It not only is an unmatched privilege to be able to possess human existence, with its awesome breathtaking potentialities—it also is acceptance of a very grave responsibility to possess the marvelous organs and powers of sex. They may be used to bring happiness, pleasures and joys beyond our maximum anticipations—if controlled and governed by God’s laws. But foolish or ignorant misuse, abuse or perversion, can impose severe penalties that far outweigh any temporary illicit pleasures or gratifications.

God’s way is the only practical way, that “pays off” in rich dividends of true happiness and joy. If you use the Maker’s Instruction Book as the basis of knowledge, and as the directive approach to all you think, and do in relation to sex, properly glorifying God in your body, great shall be your happiness, now—and eternally!