Manifold Wisdom
From the earliest days of the automobile, intake and exhaust plumbing were the most visible expressions of automotive engineers’ handiwork. The long, fluted exhaust pipe flanking the full length of a 1920s Alfa Romeo racer, the neatly spaced fins dissipating heat on early Bugatti exhaust manifolds, the curious approach of having intake and exhaust valves (and intake and exhaust manifolds) on the same side of the engine, as on a Triumph engine, or butterfly valves effectively shortening or lengthening intake runners on BMWs and Toyotas in the 1990s, or. All these are examples of beauty, of wisdom, expressed in their own way, and loved by car folks of all tribes.
Nevertheless, this wisdom is hidden from someone who doesn’t love cars. Or who lacks the physics degree necessary to fully understand the finer points of fluid dynamics. Or who is too busy wrestling with VANOS tuning on their M5 to appreciate the simple perfection of dual Strombergs flanking the straight-six engine of a British roadster.
The wisdom is there in all forms, even if we don’t understand it. Paul, of all people, emphatically preached this same concept. Easily the most book-smart apostle, Paul understood just how much he didn’t understand about the wisdom of God when he called God’s judgments “unsearchable… and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Romans 11:33). Yet for the totality of God’s wisdom, parts that are known and unknown, he chose a different word: manifold.
“Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ephesians 3:8-11)
Manifold, meaning multifaceted, best describes:
the intricate timing of God, whose wisdom was revealed in Jesus’ loving sacrifice for all people
the workings of God’s wisdom throughout all people
the impossibility to fully know every aspect of God’s wisdom
the empowerment of the Church, with that wisdom, to do the work of God
Paul was at once fascinated and dumbfounded by wisdom that far exceeded his own. As a thinker, he admired God’s thinking, whereas large portions of the population were illiterate and maybe didn’t fully comprehend every aspect of early Christian doctrine. He gave more attention to wisdom than, say, John, who was captivated by God’s love, or Luke, a physician, who admired Jesus’ miracles, or the person who was healed by Jesus’ miracles, who was maybe just thrilled that they could walk/talk/see/live again, regardless of which bone or organ was healed (or exactly how that miracle represents the doctrine of total depravity of man).
God’s wisdom worked though all of this. Yet, like the same air being sent through a manifold to different cylinders, certain aspects of God’s same wisdom are personally beloved a little differently by different people. And while we can appreciate this about God, we do so without losing the perspective that God ultimately empowers us to appreciate wisdom; it’s not wisdom that leads us to appreciate God. God created wisdom, and gives us the desire to practice it. “The Lord brought me (Wisdom) forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.” (Proverbs 8:22-23)
Because wisdom is a gift from God, we can see God’s wisdom in things that seem decidedly man-made, like variable intake runners. The logic of using them, the creativity that sparked their development, and the laws of physics governing them all have their origin with God. Now, too, our sheer joy in knowing their operation comes from God. Seeing him in this fulfills just a fraction of his joy that, since before creation, his wisdom would be shared, loved, and shared again by his creation – in manifold (different) ways.
So when you’re wrapping exhaust wrap around the header of your LS1-powered whatever – huh, sure is amazing how quickly heat-soak sets in when a giant V8 is crammed into a British roadster/Japanese sport coupe – you’re doing a wise thing, and you’re sharing in the wisdom of the God who loves and rescues you.
