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Charles Darwin was born in 1809 and his most famous book was published in 1859. Hence, 2009 is a year in which scholars are celebrating both his birth and the publication of his most significant book. It is important for us to think biblically about Charles Darwin and his ideas.
- First, a brief summary of his life. Darwin, even as a child, loved to collect minerals, insects and to observe the movements of birds. His father, Robert, sent him to medical school at the University of Edinburgh but he was bored with his studies. He then went to the University of Cambridge to study for the ministry in the Anglican church. This too bored him. Graduating in 1831, he received an offer to take a trip on a ship called the Beagle. From 1831-1836, Darwin traveled around the world on the Beagle. He took notes and collected specimens of insects, birds, animals, sea creatures, shells and bones. He discovered fossils and wrote detailed reports on his findings. In 1859, he published his revolutionary Origin of Species, in which he argued that the impersonal force of natural selection explains the origin and development of life on earth. He argued that all life is a struggle for existence and that this struggle causes all life forms to adapt to their environment. Those adaptations are then passed on to offsprings. This inheritance of acquired characteristics explains, over vast amounts of time, the development of all types of species. In effect, life is the product of vast amounts of time, random chance and the impersonal force of natural selection. In 1871-2 he published the Descent of Man in which he argued that humans are descendants of primates through the same process of natural selection.
- Second, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) undermined the authority of Scripture, especially in terms of Creation. Before Darwin, most people in western civilization believed the design they observed in the physical world proved the existence of God and that everything had a fixed order or place. Each species was separately created by God and each had a specific purpose in God’s mind. Darwin’s 1859 publication of Origin of Species shattered these assumptions. He argued that a struggle for existence characterized the natural world resulting in organic beings adapting to the changing dynamics of their environment. Thus, by natural selection, unfavorable variations and those possessing them are eliminated. This process of natural selection over vast periods of time explains how different species evolved. Darwin’s theory of evolution had catastrophic effects for Christianity. First, it questioned the literal interpretations of the Bible, especially Genesis 1. Does “day” mean a 24-hour day? Natural selection also argued against a special Creation of God as recorded in Genesis. Therefore, doubt about the Bible’s authority resulted. Second, natural selection removed the idea of purpose and design from nature. Chance was now the powerful force controlling natural selection. The intricacy and interconnectedness of nature did not necessarily demonstrate the handiwork of God. Third, the idea of order and fixity was questioned. For Darwin, nature was in a state of flux and change via natural selection; the word was change not permanence. Fourth, Darwin’s hypothesis was destructive to the uniqueness of man, so central to Christian theology. For Darwin, man was a product of time and chance. Key doctrines, such as the image of God, the entrance of sin into the race through the Fall, and the need for a Savior, were all brought into question. Darwin shook Christianity at its foundation and made atheism respectable.
It is difficult to see Darwin as a positive force in the history of ideas.
See James P. Eckman, The Truth About Worldviews, pp. 18-21. |
