Image: The Illustrated Origin of Species
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Editor's Note: This article, translated from German, originally appeared in Spektrum. We are publishing it as part of our tribute to Charles Darwin on his 200th birthday.
Mr. Darwin, there is hardly any other book that has polarized society to such an extent as your On the Origin of Species. Do you think you have been given a fair treatment in the public debate?
My views have often been grossly distorted, attacked with bitterness and made to sound silly. But this has been done, as I believe, in most cases in good faith. In this context I must mention, though, that Ihave almost always been handled decently by my critics, and I would ignore those among them without any scientific knowledge as not worthy of mention
Did your talent for science show up early in life?
When I left school, I was neither too far ahead or behind in relation to my age, and I believe all my teachers thought I was a very ordinary boy, rather below the intellectual grade. To my utter disappointment, my father once told me: "You have no other interests apart from shooting, catching rats and dogs, and you are going to bring shame upon yourself and your whole family." Since I was not able to do anything dazzling in school, my father very wisely pulled me out of school at a far earlier age than was customary and sent my with my brother to Edinburgh University.
Where you started to study medicine…
The course consisted exclusively of lectures, and these were insufferably boring. It was one of the most unfortunate circumstances of my life that I was not required to perform dissections, because I would have overcome my aversion soon enough, and the practice would have been inestimably important for all my future activities.
And then you met the zoologist Robert Grant…
One day, as we were walking together, he burst out in great admiration for Lamarck and his views on evolution. I listened in silent amazement, without being affected in any way emotionally. I had read my grandfather's zoonomy earlier, and it had contained similar views. Nevertheless, it is quite probable that the fact that I was exposed at an early age to such views and heard them being praised made it easier for me to uphold the same ideas in a different form in my Origin of Species.
From Edinburgh you went to the University of Cambridge. Why?
After having spent two sessions in Edinburgh, my father perceived, or he heard from my sisters, that I did not like the thought of being a physician, so he proposed that I should become a clergyman. He was very properly vehement against my turning into an idle sporting man, which then seemed my probable destination.
The father of evolution theory as a priest?
Accordingly, I read with care Pearson on the creed and a few other books on divinity; and as I did not then in the least doubt the strict and literal truth of every word in the Bible, I soon persuaded myself that our creed must be fully accepted. It never struck me how illogical it was to say that I believed in what I could not understand and what is in fact unintelligible. I might have said with entire truth that I had no wish to dispute any dogma; but I never was such a fool as to feel and say, "credo quia incredibile" ["I believe because it is incredible"]. If I think of how vehemently I have been attacked by the orthodoxy, it is very amusing to think that I had once entertained intentions of becoming a priest.
In Cambridge you met the botanist John Henslow who was instrumental in getting you a place on the "HMS Beagle" after your studies. Was this the definitive turning point in your life?
The journey on the Beagle has been the most significant in my life by far, and shaped my whole career. I always felt that I owed to this trip the first real cultivation or education of my mind; this journey led me to take a deep interest in several branches of natural science. My powers of observation were honed through it.
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24 Comments
Add CommentPraise Darwin!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI live very close to Dover, PA where the latest "Intelligent Design" argument was waged in the courts. It has solidified my agnosticism, and until I read this article, I didn't know that Darwin was also agnostic. Great read... thank you!
OK, and this fictional interview on Darwin's supposed religious views has *what* to do with science?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDarwin recanted evolution and confessed Christ as his Creator and Savior on his death bed. See wikipedia under Elizabeth Hope, daughter of the great Englishman Sir General Arthur Hope, an evangelical who was active in India as an engineer of renown. People should be aware of Darwin's end. He knew that evolution is contrary to God's word and offers no hope for mankind. Bill Fry
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's not at all accepted that Darwin recanted on his deathbed. It's a myth put forward by creationists, and not even all of them accept it. The wacky Answers in Genesis folks discount the story: http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v18/i1/darwin_recant.asp
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishuttarl, if you read below the article, the answers to the pretend interview questions really were Darwin's original words, so they are not his "supposed views."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn my experience, one's views on religion have much to do with how the person approaches science, so Darwin's thoughts on religion are certainly worth looking at.
Priss1000,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt doesn't matter if they were his real words or not. SA forced context on them by placing them in a fictional setting. In logic, this fallacy is known as mind-reading, or imputing motives to an historical figure to explain what he did or said.
This is a work of fiction, but much of SA has become fictionalized of late.
Why would one believe or disbelieve in god based on what Darwin did or did not say? Darwin only presents a far more feasible means of understanding human evolution than a nebulous god (who is impossible to understand anyway, all say, due to his incomprehensible complexity) can possibly be credited with.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI choose to believe god is a trippy superstition simply because I have the intelligence to draw conclusions based on objective appraisals of certain realities.
well said, Agile Cyborg.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFrybonds,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisArticles in wikipedia should be taken with a grain of salt, as they are edited by normal people on the internet who may or may not be qualified to be an expert on the subject. Many cases where there isn't any controversy on the subject, they may be fairly accurate; but on subjects like this where there is much controversy, one side or the other may have purposely skewed the story to fit their view. This I believe is one of those cases.
The ulterior purpose of evolution is to draw the world into the pantheistic occult new age movement. Not only are animals evolving, say the new agers, but pantheistic universal consciousness is evolving as well. Darwin's bulldog, Thomas Huxley, had a grandson named Aldous who became an ardent pantheistic occultist. As a result, most of the world will follow the antichrist and take the mark 666. One new age occult channeler regularly speaks at the United Nation's S.E.A.T. (Society for Enlightenment and Transformation) in NY & Europe. There, channeling in front of worldly elites, he said, "make peace with the dragon, that's all I have to say about that for now." The dragon referenced is clearly Lucifer/Satan who will empower the antichrist. Lucifer knows all evolutionists are duped. Another new age occultist had a conference in Hawaii on 06/06/06 showing their adoration for the number 666. Most evolutionary atheists & agnostics already embrace some form of panspermia, which is fitting with the UFO extraterrestrail adoring new age movement and most of the same read science fiction, which is usually saturated with the occult. New agers often speak of a quantum leap of evolution, the same as theosophy's global ascension, which is supposed to happen when the negatives disappear off the planet and those remaining experience a (fake) enlightenmnet. This is clearly a dispensational rapture lie and preparation for those left behind to embrace the occult antichrist through a false enlightenment--a false born-again experience--since they rejected the Holy Spirit by rejecting Jesus' sacrifice. Conclusion: evolution & the new age movement are mass deceptions.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisQuark333,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo, what 'crystal-clear guarantee' has god presented you that leads you to 100% realize that you will be caught up in this drastic and effulgent rapture thereby avoiding the mass-deception-corrupt-filthy-pestilence plague of evolution?
Sounds like Quark333 is on the crazy juice.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHe's a classic sub-category religomeme.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAgile Cyborg.....answering your question: First, as a youth, my born again experience after surrendering to Jesus' death & resurrection for my sins where I received the Holy Spirit helping illuminate truth, which includes the Bible. A few years later, I was levitated--disobeying the laws of physics--to avoid a terrible car accident from someone doing drag race near my school. My body would have been splattered all over the street. Later, after receiving two science related degrees, while working as a chemical engineer for a large corp. in a large city, my attractive socialite girlfriend from a terrible past manifested evil spirits--which included using her vocal cords & changing her eye color--in a few exorcisms that makes the movie 'The Exorcist' boring to me. At about the time, God revealed his power to us in a theophony, not to mention his deliverance of the evil spirits. Also, 20+ years of research on the aforementioned subjects. Time is running out...better make a decision soon.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBecause anecdote is good evidence. Yup.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree with Quark333. Such experiences throughout my life with God (although much different than Quark333's) have also made it clear to me God is always with me and guiding me through all situations. Like, every minute of my life. And quite simply, that's why my faith grew so much stronger during the past few years, and will continue to grow. He's always doing something; we just have to see it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe reason why people are called crazy for giving up and dedicating their lives to the Christian God is because agnostics/atheists haven't accepted experiencing the power of God. Because the people living without God have their eyes closed, they do not see it when God tries to help them. Only when we are completely open to the idea of always being watched and always being saved both spiritually and physically by God will we be able to see His everyday action. Often I see my atheistic peers saying, "If you are here, God, show me now. Do something, anything." But their minds are not truly open; this is why God does not answer to these people. He is always here with each person, and it is up to us to acknowledge and love Him.
"If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way." - Bertrand Russell
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisinstincts... I know that it is not in my instincts to believe that I should forget self, carry my cross and follow Jesus, nor is it in my instincts to lay down my life for my friends. It is however (I think) in my human nature to want to be sexually immoral, commit adultery, get drunk, be greedy, make idols, steal, slander and swindle...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisReligion is like smoking; no matter how much information we provide about how idiotic it is, there will always be those that continue to smoke. We can't change that. Their minds are not affected by knowledge only by their own intellectual frailties. It is the downside of the wonderful variety of human personality. All that we can do is minimize the damage that those people can do to others. Threatening children with damnation, for example, should be treated as child abuse. Those that claim to speak for god, should be charged with Fraud, unless they can prove that they do in-fact speak for god (a notarized letter on god’s official letterhead should suffice). And for those that claim science is B.S., we should simply deny them access to all that science has allowed us to create. Let’s start with medical science. Since organisms can’t evolve, then sucking on some mouldy bread should do just fine for these people, besides, if it pleases god to inflict them with suffering, then who are we to question god’s will?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWasn't it the bird doctors (orinthologist?) who finally brought Darwin around after they showed him the adaptations of the same species of Finch birds from the Galopagos Islands? That is, the same species of finch, but they had adapted to the different environments of each island, proving that if God (Yaweh) had "created" the animals they would not be changing over thousands of years and millions of years. They would still be the same as Yaweh had made them during that first week.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJesus was born, lived, and died a devout jew. He never founded a religion, he delivered a message. The message was about how to live your life and conduct your affairs in such a manner that you wouldn't be ashamed of it, briefly described.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Bible contains the the teachings of Jesus but not everything in the Bible is about Jesus. Neither creationism nor evolution conflict with His teachings since those teachings have nothing to do with either concept.
Quark333,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou have my heartfelt sympathies. You have so much to un-learn before you can begin to learn. I do not envy you the journey.
You're nuts!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBoy, are you out in left field! I sure wouldn't want you on my local school board.
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