Many thanks to Allen and everyone who provided sources.
-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]
-------- Original Message ------------
On Thu, 13 Dec 2012 02:14:00 -0800, Allen Esterson wrote:
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
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