Darwin vs Dawkins is a phenomenon of our times
Darwin shook the status quo but never went as far as publicly denying God. According to James Secord, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, “It is easy to make Darwin out to be like Richard Dawkins, and to see Darwin as an acid that eats through our belief and faith, but Darwin didn’t see it like that”.
Secord goes on to argue that setting religion vs science is more a phenomenon of our times. “Generally speaking, people thought that religion and progress went together and that Britain’s progress was something designed and foreseen by God”. At the time of Darwin the Genesis version of creation was understood in a non-literal way by those high up in the Church. Evolution and God’s creation were not necessarily seen as being mutually exclusive. Although Darwin’s theories were considered to be controversial, by the time of his death the Church had come to accept his theories and he was given a State funeral at Westminster Abbey. At this service the Reverend Fred Farrar told those present that “the work of this great man of science has enabled people to read many hitherto undeciphered lines in God’s great epic of the universe”.
For Levensons complete article out lining Darwins personal journey of faith click here
RELIGIOUS STUDIES TEACHER RESOURCE NEWSLETTER
Sign up for tutor2u's free Religious Studies Teacher Resource Newsletter
Recent Threads on the Religious Studies Teacher Discussion Forums:
