L5 Charles Darwin and God

1. Charles Darwin & God
Lecture 5: Apr 7, 2013

2. 1. The Life & Times of ‘Rev.’ Charles Darwin
Trained for the ministry of the Word
Postponed it to embark on a 5-year circumnavigation of the world (1831-
1836)
Read geology, considered the premises behind slavery, saw seashells on
mountains
Came home, married, and started conversations, thinking and writing
Published major books in 1859, 1871

3. 2. The Voyage of the Beagle: 1831-1836
18 months on the ship
1 year in Tierra del Fuego
5 weeks in the Galapagos
3 Fuegan kids captured by Fitzroy in a previous voyage and sent to London with
new names (Jemmy Button, Fuega Basket and York Minster) and now they were being
returned home
to convert their fellow Fuegans to Christianity. When the Beagle dropped anchor,
Darwin encountered ‘uncivilized’ locals for the first time.
All the missions property were destroyed and the 3 returned to their ‘savage’ state.
Were OUR ancestors also such as these. Civilization suddenly appeared thin and
fragile.

4. 3. The Origin of Species, 1859 & The Descent of Man, 1871
Competition
Mutation
Adaptation
New Species
Common descent
Man included

5. 4. Darwin’s Dangerous Idea
Darwin’s Dangerous Idea – All men are equal
Creation, Life on earth, Man’s place in nature
Forced us to re-examine the foundation of human behavior
and morality
Why care about the implications of Darwin’s dangerous
idea
Understood well – good
Understood badly – very bad (9/11, promotes conflict)

6. 5. The Theological Implication of Evolution by Natural Selection
Has Darwin killed God or rather, an intellectual need for
God?
ONLY if our idea of God is one that CAN be killed by
Scientific explanations of reality

7. 6. Did God create by evolution or did man evolve to create God?

8. 7. Slavery, Original Sin &
Around the time of Darwin’s writings, David Livingston
was recommending to Parliament to replace
the slave trade with the 3 Cs – Christianity, Commerce and Civilization.
After his death, Parliament added a 4th
C - Conquest

9. 8. Divine v Natural Selection

10. 9. “The Church of my Youth”
“There is grandeur in this view of life…
having been originally breathed by the Creator…
from so simple a beginning
endless forms most wonderful and most beautiful
have been, and are being evolved.”
Charles Darwin in Origin of Species

11. 10. A Christian Proposal for Charles Darwin’s God
What was Darwin’s choice?
Belief in 19th
century Anglican theology or follow the
evidence
God created originalis, continua and novo.
Process: Gradual evolution, to allow for freedom of will,
love and weeding out of errors
Cost: Collateral damage

12. Academy for Christian Thought
Who Are We?
We are a resource for Christian organizations seeking to understand the roles
of history, the natural sciences and philosophy in their ministries.
We are an adoptive authority for both believer and skeptic seeking an
informed approach to understanding of divine reality with integrity.

13. Why is ACT different?
1. We provide a safe space to learn and to discuss topical issues pertinent both
to the academy and the religious life of people.
2. We initiated a ‘copyleft’ program to distribute our materials royalty-free in
the Two-Thirds World, to counter limited access to our materials due to
economic disparity.
3. We engage the academy through participation in international conferences
on religion and the natural sciences - to narrow the distance of mutual
suspicion between academy and church.
4. We partner with churches and campus ministries - to bridge the
cognitive gap between the pulpit and the pew and serve as a clearing house
of ideas and a trusted resource.