On the Origins of Species

[KeilanS]

I recently made an attempt at reading Darwin's "On the Origins of Species" and while I couldn't get through the whole book (If anyone ever complains about how boring parts of the Bible are to them, tell them to read Darwin's book) I did manage to read the main establishment of the theory (first half of the book) and the summary/recapulation section. I find it interesting how close Darwin was to being correct even from a creationist viewpoint. He simply carries it a bit too far in my opinion.

This was the last line in the book which I found of particular interest:

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst the planet has gone cycling according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved"

-On the Origins of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin (Emphasis added).

The bolded line is the one that really got me, because it shows that Darwin:

a) was not an athiest.

b) was open to the possibility that there were multiple original species, not just one.

So although this is just guessing, Darwin might have been a Christian. And his theory is almost right. Lets say instead of "a few forms", it was a couple thousand forms? Obviously there has been some diversification (evolution if you will), some of the species alive now were probably not on the ark. I believe that there was one dog, one horse, etc. on the ark and that they produced more varieties from there.

Anyways, I'm not really going anywhere with this. Just something interesting. And just to put aside one other rumour, I've heard fairly often people saying that "Darwin didn't believe his own theory". I'm not sure where that came from, but it's not true as far as I can tell.

God Bless,

Keilan

[DarkNebulaWelder]

I recently made an attempt at reading Darwin's "On the Origins of Species" and while I couldn't get through the whole book (If anyone ever complains about how boring parts of the Bible are to them, tell them to read Darwin's book) I did manage to read the main establishment of the theory (first half of the book) and the summary/recapulation section. I find it interesting how close Darwin was to being correct even from a creationist viewpoint. He simply carries it a bit too far in my opinion.

This was the last line in the book which I found of particular interest:

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst the planet has gone cycling according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved"

-On the Origins of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin (Emphasis added).

The bolded line is the one that really got me, because it shows that Darwin:

a) was not an athiest.

b) was open to the possibility that there were multiple original species, not just one.

So although this is just guessing, Darwin might have been a Christian. And his theory is almost right. Lets say instead of "a few forms", it was a couple thousand forms? Obviously there has been some diversification (evolution if you will), some of the species alive now were probably not on the ark. I believe that there was one dog, one horse, etc. on the ark and that they produced more varieties from there.

Anyways, I'm not really going anywhere with this. Just something interesting. And just to put aside one other rumour, I've heard fairly often people saying that "Darwin didn't believe his own theory". I'm not sure where that came from, but it's not true as far as I can tell.

God Bless,

Keilan

Hey, dude;

I doubt that Darwin was a Christian.

Darwin once commented to J.D. Hooker that her regretted using the Bbilical term "creation," saying that he really meant "appeared by some wholly unknown process."

He obviously didn't want to be associated with the Biblical "Creator," and expressed this in many private discussions with colleagues.

Just something to think about.

[apothanein kerdos]

That's taking Darwin well out of context. As he continued to provide revisions to OoS, he kept taking the reference of "Creator" out of his works. In the end, he was more along the lines of an agnostic, border line atheist.

[DarkNebulaWelder]

That's taking Darwin well out of context. As he continued to provide revisions to OoS, he kept taking the reference of "Creator" out of his works. In the end, he was more along the lines of an agnostic, border line atheist.

Hey, ak

It was rumoured to me that, on Darwin's deathbed, he acknowledged God.

Is there any validity to this?

[KeilanS]

I suppose that was to be expected. I had nothing besides some of the first Origins of Species text to work with. Probably one of the earlier revisions at that. I would also have doubted that Darwin believed in God, because he would have known full well that this theory would work against the Bible. Well now I know, thanks all.

[apothanein kerdos]

That's taking Darwin well out of context. As he continued to provide revisions to OoS, he kept taking the reference of "Creator" out of his works. In the end, he was more along the lines of an agnostic, border line atheist.

Hey, ak

It was rumoured to me that, on Darwin's deathbed, he acknowledged God.

Is there any validity to this?

Nope, none. He died an agnostic/atheist.

I suppose that was to be expected. I had nothing besides some of the first Origins of Species text to work with. Probably one of the earlier revisions at that. I would also have doubted that Darwin believed in God, because he would have known full well that this theory would work against the Bible. Well now I know, thanks all.

Darwin would later admit that his quest in exploring evolution was to show that the world did not need God in order to come about or to function. The reason is because of all the evil in the world that he saw through his exploration. To him, if God existed, He had abandoned the world a long time ago. At best, he could be described as a Deist based on his earlier works...but the later you go in his works and revisions, the more he appears and admits to agnosticism and atheism.

[DarkNebulaWelder]

Does anyone know by what methods Darwin explained how it was that the world reached a certain point and then STOPPED evolving?

In that aspect, how evolution stopped at man?

Is it his assessment that man was the highest possible level in an evolutionary climax?

I never understood this.

[apothanein kerdos]

Does anyone know by what methods Darwin explained how it was that the world reached a certain point and then STOPPED evolving?

In that aspect, how evolution stopped at man?

Is it his assessment that man was the highest possible level in an evolutionary climax?

I never understood this.

I don't think he believed it would ever stop. I think the argument is that man was the pinnacle of evolution...or I should say, the white man was the pinnacle of evolution. He did, of course, make exceptions, stating that the Irish man was less evolved than the Englishman, and that the Anglo's would eventually triumph over the "weaker" Africans.

He was quite the racist.

[DarkNebulaWelder]

Does anyone know by what methods Darwin explained how it was that the world reached a certain point and then STOPPED evolving?

In that aspect, how evolution stopped at man?

Is it his assessment that man was the highest possible level in an evolutionary climax?

I never understood this.

I don't think he believed it would ever stop. I think the argument is that man was the pinnacle of evolution...or I should say, the white man was the pinnacle of evolution. He did, of course, make exceptions, stating that the Irish man was less evolved than the Englishman, and that the Anglo's would eventually triumph over the "weaker" Africans.

He was quite the racist.

Wow...I was not aware of that....it wouldn't surprise me, though.

After all, may Asians believe that they are superior in the evolutionary chain because they have less hair on their bodies, and are likewise, farther removed from apes.

Funny how racism can creep it's way into any matter, if allowed.

[EricH]

I believe that Darwin did attend the church of England and was studying to be a minister at Cambridge. On his voyage on the Beagle he came to doubt the historicity of the Bible, but viewed it as a good moral book. When he lost his daughter, he lost belief in Christianity and began to characterize himself as an agnostic