Charles Darwin on Religion
I'm currently working on a paper on Charles Darwin. I've come across a very interesting section of his autobiography where he's discussing his views on religion.
What my own views may be is a question of no consequence to anyone but myself. But, as you ask, I may state that my judgement often fluctuates... In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an Atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. I think that generally (and more and more as I grow older, but not always), that an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind.I find this absolutely fascinating. Christian teaching taught me that Darwin was the father of Naturalism and with that comes Atheism (both, of course, being very, very dangerous). The way I have come to understand modern naturalist science seems to assume the same thing:
Darwin = Evolution = Atheism.
And yet, when you read Darwin himself, such does not seem to be the case. It's more like:
Darwin = Evolution ≠ Atheism.
So what I'm coming to learn is: #1 Darwin is greatly misunderstood and misused by the contemporary Christian and Atheist, #2 Science and Religion issues aren't quite so clean, cut, and dry as I was raised to think.
P.S. If you've ever heard (in church) about Darwin's deathbed repentance, I have yet to uncover, and our professor confirms, that any such thing ever really happend. It appears to be simply Christian urban legend that never really happened. More than likely, it is a complete misunderstanding of the type of quotes referred above, and based on the mistaken Atheism premise I pointed out really isn't true.
posted by Pierre @ 2:36 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
If I am remembering correctly, Darwin either went to seminary or planned to attend seminary at some point in the earlier part of his life. He was a deeply Christian person and raised in a Christian home. But the situation surrounding the death of his daughter (I think) had a profound affect on his beliefs and led him into a really shaky place of faith. He struggled with the problem of evil and in turn wrestled with the problem of suffering, particularly as it pertains to predation in the fossil record.
Was Darwin a Christian at the end of his life? I don't know. Is Darwinism inherently naturalistic? Not really. Christians can be Darwinists. Just look at Francis Collins.
The key question is, did God use the mechanism of natural process evolution to guide the development of new species? Or did he specially create each new creature? Based on my study of certain verbs in Genesis 1 and 2, I think the latter view has better textual support. But I still think Christians need to be very, very careful about being overly condemning about Christians who hold to an evolutionary point of view. We need to approach this issue with great charity.
I will say, however, that Darwin's ideas did give atheists an approach to understanding the fossil record apart from God. Atheists latched onto it and I think that's why Christians so closely associate Darwin with non-belief. Darwin's problems with death and suffering are why young-earth creationists react so strongly against an ancient age of the universe. This is why it is vital that Christians who hold to an ancient view of the universe to give a strong explanation about death before Adam. It's all intertwined (in a young-earth creationist's mind) with the problem of evil and so untangling that is a critical first step in talking to them.
Great topic... Happy writing...
Krista
Very interesting...
I've always heard about the deathbed recant, I can't believe it's just a myth!
Great thoughts, Krista! Yes, Darwin has a fascinating life story.
In Darwin's autobiography, his son (who edited and published the work) writes a whole chapter on Darwin's faith and approach to religion at the end of his life.
It's a great chapter (and the source of the quote I reference) and probably the strongest confirmation I've come across yet that Darwin's recant is false.
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