Transcript Endless Forms Most Beautiful

… from so simple a beginning
and most wonderful
have been, and are being, evolved .
endless forms most beautiful
Charles Darwin
Nature
does
nothing
in
leaps
Natura non facit saltum
Charles Darwin
“The theory of evolution is quite compatible
with the belief in a God…”
Charles Darwin
Endless Forms Most
Beautiful
Darwin and Faith
Your Concept of Darwin
When I say “Darwin”, what adjectives come
to mind?
During adult ed, the following were shared
–
–
–
–
Innovative
Misrepresented
Intellectual
Research-intense
26 April 2009
5
Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882 )
At age 7, Darwin was already a collector
and naturalist
His father and grandfather were
physicians, and he was expected to be one
as well
He attended the University of Edinburgh
for medical school
He neglected his medical studies in favor
of learning about natural history
26 April 2009
Photo: Charles Darwin, 1816, Wikipedia
6
Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882 )
His father then sent him to
Christ’s College, Cambridge as
the first step in becoming an
Anglican parson
– Darwin still followed his love of
natural history
He graduated 10th in his class in
1831
By December 1831 he was on
the HMS Beagle
26 April 2009
Photo: Charles Darwin, c. 1831 Wikipedia
7
Voyage of the HMS Beagle
A planned 2 year voyage becomes 5
26 April 2009
Image: AboutDarwin.com
8
Separation of Faith and Science
NOT Darwin’s doing
Began in the Age of Enlightenment (1650-1789)
– Aspired toward more freedom for common people
• These principles were a revolutionary departure from theocracy,
oligarchy, aristocracy, and the divine right of kings
– An era of rational discourse and personal judgment
– The scientific method comes into wide spread use
– Faith was not rational, therefore could not be part of
science, which was highly rational
– The church responded with what today is called
creationism
– This was before Darwin and set the stage for his work
26 April 2009
9
Beagle Diary (1831-1836)
What would you expect Darwin’s faith to be
like?
“The mind is a chaos of delight…”
“…temples filled with the varied productions
of the God of Nature: — No one can stand
unmoved in these solitudes, without feeling
that there is more in man than the mere
breath of his body.”
Is this what you expected?
26 April 2009
10
Transmutation Notebooks B-E
Written after the Beagle
voyage
Scientific thoughts about
evolution and eventually
natural selection
Why
treemany
to
“To
do choose
this & toahave
species
in same
genus.
represent
evolution?
REQUIRES extinction. “
26 April 2009
11
Transmutation Notebook B
“The Creator has made tribes of animals
adapted preeminently for each element, but
it seems law that such tribes, as far as
compatible with such structure are in minor
degrees adapted for other elements.”
26 April 2009
12
Transmutation Notebook D
“…changes of form in the organic world, as
adaptation & these changing affect each
other & their bodies, by certain laws of
harmony keep perfect in these themselves…
& the world peopled with Myriads of
distinct forms … to the future— How far
grander than [the] idea from [the] cramped
imagination of God…”
Where is Darwin’s faith several years after
the voyage of the Beagle?
26 April 2009
13
Metaphysical Notebooks M-N
Started later, after conception of natural selection
Written concurrently with transmutation D-E
Written during difficult times in London
Much of them were written in secrecy
Metaphysical implications of evolution
26 April 2009
14
On the Origin of Species (1859)
Francis Bacon
“Let no man… think or maintain that a man can
search too far or be too well-studied in the book of
God’s word, or in the book of God’s works… but
rather let men endeavor an endless progress or
proficiency in both”
Darwin put this quote opposite the title page of
“On the Origin of Species”
Has Darwin’s ideas about faith and science
changed since his voyage?
26 April 2009
15
Conclusions
“Darwin’s understanding of nature never departed
from a theological point of view.” James Moore
However, his view of God did evolve from the idea
of a static creation to a dynamic creation; a view
drastically different from his contemporaries.
Darwin saw creation as a self-organizing process
“…from so simple a beginning endless forms most
beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are
being, evolved.”
26 April 2009
16
SOF: Evolution and
Wonder
The Complete Work of
Charles Darwin Online
Pew Forum: The Conflict
Between Religion and
Evolution
“For the Beauty of Earth”
performed by the
Cambridge Singers
26 April 2009
17