The Ascendency of Charles Darwin
Huge numbers of books have been written about historical events and notable people, often attempting to go beyond recounting events. The lives and personalities of important figures are explored — and explanations for their actions are attempted. One of these is Charles Darwin.
People may think that science was shaken by the wonderful discovery of evolution by natural selection, but that is not true. As discussed previously, significant events seldom happen spontaneously. Events, culture, help from others, and more helped Darwin attain popularity.
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| Charles Darwin preaching in a church, made with AI at Bing |
Neil pointed out that Victorian England had reached a point where people were doubting the Bible, and this was exacerbated by intellectualized criticisms that were gaining in popularity. People added their negative opinions and lack of understanding of God. I blame the church for not explaining and equipping the saints to reason from Scripture, which led to them essentially making a straw God: A caricature of the true God that they could more easily criticize through prejudicial conjecture. Of course, they were also denying the truth of special creation. Now Darwin is accepted by many churches.
I am not the first to pose that question [Why has Darwin been believed?] Two decades ago John Angus Campbell of the University of Memphis asked the selfsame question, attributing many persons’ acceptance of Darwinian postulates to the author’s rhetorical and persuasive arts laced with his accessibly folksy analogies with agricultural practices familiar to most of his first readers from Britain’s pre-industrial past:
This intelligent article is well worth your time and gives us some things to ponder. To continue, click on "Why Has Darwin Been Believed?"