Darwin in His Own Words
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution will no doubt remain controversial forever. These newly released letters provide a fascinating peek inside the mind of a man who has created debate among so many for so long.
As he crafted his seminal work, On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin crossed intellects with some of the finest minds of his age, testing and refining a theory that would change the very nature of mankind’s view of itself.
Now, previously unpublished letters reveal the thinking behind the book that unleashed a scientific and religious furore in the 19th century.
The correspondence with Darwin’s friend and theological sparring partner Asa Gray, an American botanist and God-fearing Christian, spans decades, beginning in 1854, five years before the publication of Origin, and continuing until Darwin’s death in 1882.
The relationship between Darwin and Gray was good natured, if combative. In one letter, Darwin tells Gray: “An innocent and good man stands under a tree and is killed by a flash of lightning. Do you believe that God designedly killed this man? Many or most persons do believe this. I can’t and don’t.”
Gray responds: “You reject the idea of design, while all the while bringing out the neatest illustrations of it!” Darwin, rather self-conscious of his large nose, writes: “Will you honestly tell me that the shape of my nose was ordained and guided by an intelligent cause?”
Dr Paul White of the Darwin Correspondence Project said: “The letters reveal that debate over design engaged a wide range of participants, and in a manner that was both frank and respectful of differences in religious belief. In contrast to much of the current debate, Darwin and his circle of correspondents seem more tolerant and more humble.”
HT: American Thinker
Written by Sue
~J~ Says:
April 29th, 2007 at 8:20 pmVisit ~J~
People make the mistake of thinking God makes bad things happen. I believe He allows them to happen.
I also believe that before the foundations of the earth were laid every one of us had a certain amount of breaths and heartbeats allotted to us. Yes, He knew beforehand how we will die, but He didn’t make it happen.
Here’s another example: My grandmother had green eyes, her sister had blue eyes, my aunts and uncle on my mother’s side and most on my father’s side all had/have green or hazel eyes. L T’s mother had the lightest green eyes I have ever seen.
I have brown eyes. How did it happen? Someone passed on a gene that was recessive in them but is dominant in me. Both my children have brown eyes and my husband has green eyes.
My skin is very light, but my son’s skin is what I call Indian skin or Mediterranean skin color. It’s olive. I can’t find anyone in my bloodline or my husband’s with that color skin. Some are darker as they have more Indian blood, but somewhere along the line someone in my bloodline was that color and he got what was a recessive gene to one of us and it’s a dominant gene to him.
One of his children has blue eyes and the other has brown eyes. My other two grandchildren have blue eyes and green eyes.
My nose is big. I got that from my grandmother and mother and everyone else just about in my family including my father.
It’s genes and not evolution. It’s what you inherit from your ancestors and sometimes it takes a long time to show up.
Now my grandmother had a son who had the same color as my son. This little guy died of spinal meningitis when he was four and my grandmother never got over his death, but God was good to her in that my son resembled him and she always called my son by her son’s name before correcting herself.
I would say he was one of her favorites and for that very reason.
smh10 Says:
April 29th, 2007 at 8:45 pmVisit smh10
While I do not believe in evolution the debate is fascinating.
I do believe genetics is the explanation for human characteristics although those who do not believe in God as the Creator could argue that through evolution the same genes could have existed.
J, I would be interested in your statement of believing God allows bad things to happen..do you believe it is for punishment or because he allows us to make our own way and shows that we pay a price for specific behaviors?
~J~ Says:
April 29th, 2007 at 10:04 pmVisit ~J~
I don’t believe it’s for punishment. Look at Job, who was a good man in the Eyes of God, and yet God allowed Satan to destroy his family, his fortune etc, but told him not to touch a hair on his head.
In the end God replaced all those things tenfold, but we can never replace loved ones who have died and we still grieve for them.
I believe God lets us make our own decisions but does not force us to make them. Sometimes Satan is involved in the decisions we make, but that doesn’t mean God made anyone do anything. In fact, you will usually hear that small voice in your head telling you not to do it, but you ignore that voice. Free choice.
The best way I can explain free choice is this:
We have a dog who wandered up to our carport just about this time last year. We started feeding her and eventually talked the neighbor into taking her as we already had two dogs.
The neighbor couldn’t keep her inside the fence as she was a master at finding ways out of it, so the neighbor called the dog pound.
When I found out she was in the dog pound I bailed her out, had her shots done and spaying plus heart worm treatment. This was all done with my husband’s consent.
We plugged all the holes in the fence and she was still able to get out. Now we let her loose and she crawls under the fence to come back home!
She doesn’t stay away long. The point? She has free will to do as she wants, and because she chooses to come back to us she loves us and the life we have provided her. Her “own” room and comfy La-Z-Boy couch are a little too comfortable for her.
If she were on a chain and couldn’t get free she would be here against her will.
That’s how I describe what God has done with us as far as free will goes. He allows us to do as we will but wants us to do His will.
I hope this makes sense.
~J~ Says:
April 29th, 2007 at 10:11 pmVisit ~J~
I can’t believe genes are random things or we’d all look like someone never related to us. This is not a random world we live in.
The complexity of the human body shows there is a Creator.
I marveled at the skeletal system charts at my doctor’s office when I was last there. He told me what fascinates him is the brain. He said sometimes he’s driving down the road, thinking about the brain, and he says, “You got it right, God.”
If it were random we wouldn’t have such intricate systems in our bodies.
smh10 Says:
April 29th, 2007 at 10:27 pmVisit smh10
Thanks for the answer J and I love the animal example.
It explains perfectly what you are trying to convey..at least to me.
~J~ Says:
April 29th, 2007 at 10:30 pmVisit ~J~
God even gave us the free choice of accepting or rejecting His only begotten Son Jesus. Accept and your sins are washed away and you are guaranteed eternal life. Reject and you are guaranteed eternal torments in the fires of hell. It’s our choice where we wish to spend eternity, but remember eternity is forever, and compared to eternity a thousand years is but a flash in the pan.
smh10 Says:
April 29th, 2007 at 11:03 pmVisit smh10
Do you believe someone like Darwin who had strong beliefs in evolution would be condemned to hell? He was a believer at some point in his life so do you believe that counts for anything in the eyes of God?
The reason I ask is that his turn from Christianity began with the loss of a child and I would think the kind God we believe in would show mercy on someone put through such torture.
~J~ Says:
April 30th, 2007 at 7:01 amVisit ~J~
I’m not the judge of any person’s soul. That’s up to the Lord. If he was a true Christian believer, i.e. had accepted Christ as his savior and meant it I believe we cannot lose our salvation, but I do believe before God allows him to blaspheme Him He will take him from this earth to save him from that unforgiveable sin.
The only unforgiveable sin is attributing to the Holy Spirit that which is the work of Satan or vice versa. For true believers who really meant it when they converted, and I don’t mean changed from RC to Baptist for instance, but when they made a commitment to Christ will never blaspheme the Holy Spirit because God will take them first.