A follow upto Chris's words on Darwin'sreligious beliefs: >Myimpression, from lots of reading I've done about Darwin >...is that he wasnever a deep believer in conventional Anglican >theology.His discoveries in South America loosened what >faithhe had even further… What finally shattered even lukewarm >religiousfaith for Darwin,however, was the death of his daughter Annie, Darwin'sown writings on the subject indicate he was an unthinking believer prior to theBeagle voyage -- after all, when he went to Cambridge after giving up medicineat Edinburgh he seriously considered accepting the rather despairing advice of his father(himself a freethinker!) that he should become a clergyman in the Church ofEngland. In his Autobiography (published posthumously) he observed wryly: "Consideringhow fiercely I have been attacked by the orthodox it seems ludicrous that Ionce intended to be a clergyman." Here iswhat Darwinwrote on his religious beliefs in his Autobiography:
During these two years [October 1836to January 1839] I was led to think much about religion. Whilst on board the BeagleI was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several ofthe officers (though themselves orthodox) for quoting the Bible as anunanswerable authority on some point of morality. I suppose it was the noveltyof the argument that amused them. But I had gradually come, by this time, tosee that the Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world, withthe Tower of Babel, the rainbow as a sign, etc., etc., and from its attributingto God the feelings of a revengeful tyrant, was no more to be trusted than thesacred books of the Hindoos, or the beliefs of any barbarian. The question thencontinually rose before my mind and would not be banished,—is it credible thatif God were now to make a revelation to the Hindoos, would he permit it to beconnected with the belief in Vishnu, Siva, &c., as Christianity isconnected with the Old Testament. This appeared to me utterly incredible. By further reflecting that theclearest evidence would be requisite to make any sane man believe in themiracles by which Christianity is supported,—that the more we know of the fixedlaws of nature the more incredible do miracles become,—that the men at thattime were ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible byus,—that the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneously withthe events,—that they differ in many important details, far too important as itseemed to me to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies of eye-witnesses;—by suchreflections as these, which I give not as having the least novelty or value,but as they influenced me, I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as adivine revelation. The fact that many false religions have spread over largeportions of the earth like wild-fire had some weight with me. Beautiful as isthe morality of the New Testament, it can hardly be denied that its perfectiondepends in part on the interpretation which we now put on metaphors andallegories. But I was very unwilling to give upmy belief;—I feel sure of this for I can well remember often and ofteninventing day-dreams of old letters between distinguished Romans andmanuscripts being discovered at Pompeiior elsewhere which confirmed in the most striking manner all that was writtenin the Gospels. But I found it more and more difficult, with free scope givento my imagination, to invent evidence which would suffice to convince me. Thus disbeliefcrept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was soslow that I felt no distress, and have never since doubted even for a singlesecond that my conclusion was correct. I can indeed hardly see how anyone oughtto wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seemsto show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father,Brother and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. Andthis is a damnable doctrine. http://tinyurl.com/37ecad Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org --------------------------------------- From: Christopher Green <chri...@yorku.ca> Subject: Re: References For Darwin's Crisis of Faith Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:22:19 -0500 This iswhat I was thinking as well. We can't see into Darwin's heart, as it were. My impression,from lots of reading I've done about Darwin(including the Browne biography Louis recommended) is that he was never a deepbeliever in conventional Anglican theology. His discoveries in South Americaloosened what faith he had even further (though it was his buddy Huxley, morethan him, who was willing to make public pronouncements about the religiousimplications of Darwinian theory, and even invent the word "agnostic"in order to describe his own disposition). What finally shattered even lukewarmreligious faith for Darwin,however, was the death of his daughter Annie, more than the theory of naturalselection. And, of course, stories of Darwinhaving repented on his deathbed are wholly fictional. Chris --- ChristopherD. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=22358 or send a blank email to leave-22358-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
