An Enlightening Quote from Charles Darwin

" 'I can hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so, the plain language of the text seems to 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. And this is a damnable doctrine'."

Charles Darwin on the subject of Eternal Hell, taken from The Autobiography of Charles Darwin (revised version) quoted on Wikipedia

He had a point! I would totally agree with him on this. The doctrine of Eternal Hell was probably one of the main reasons as to why Darwin eventually rejected the God of the Bible, if this quote is anything to go by. I sometimes wonder if Darwin would've rejected his faith in God if he had known the wonderful truth of Universal Reconciliation and the true justice and mercy of God. Of course, his Theory of Evolution, and the resultant belief in philosophical materialism, did not originate with Darwin alone, and I have no doubt that, in the sovereign plan of God, if it hadn't be popularised by Darwin then it would've happened through somebody else! Nevertheless, things could've been very different for Darwin himself. The more I learn about Darwin and the science behind his Theory, the more I respect him and his work. The Theory of Evolution doesn't automatically exclude God from the picture if it turns out to be correct.

I've seen a number of documentaries on Darwin's life and work, and in some respects I can sympathise with the difficulties he had in relation to life's pain and suffering and death, and how that relates to a loving God. I find his scientific work fascinating and I can see why he was led down certain paths of scientific theory. Nevertheless, it's sad that he finally rejected the God of the Bible, although I can totally understand why. Oftentimes, the religion of Christianity, and some of its doctrines and practices, has slid far from the true spirit and teaching of Jesus.

Did Darwin Kill God? - An excellent documentary that considers some of the underlying issues in the on-going debate (or some would say 'war') between science and Christianity. Very enlightening. Originally shown on BBC in 2009. I was forced to re-think a number of things when I first saw this three years ago. Well done, Conor Cunningham.

It's interesting that when Darwin began his voyage on HMS Beagle, he was very much a Bible-believing Christian, taking much of the Bible, including Genesis, very literally. This fundamentalist viewpoint was very common at that time. Yet during the voyage, this began to change, for, to Darwin's mind, he could not reconcile his observations of nature with this literal view of Genesis. I've since come to realise myself that this 'literal' view is certainly not the best way to understand the early chapters of Genesis anyhow. I'm sure there were many other reasons that led to Darwin finally rejecting Christianity, some of them probably more complex than we'd like to think.

For further information on Charles Darwin's life and his beliefs, see Darwin's Slippery Slide into Unbelief (it must be noted that this article appears on a Young Earth Creationism site), and also the Wikipedia link above. I also plan to consider more on Darwin, Evolution and Creation in the Creation & Evolution section - as it evolves (sorry!)