10 - 17 Feb 2008

February 12 is the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin whose ideas about the process of evolution now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. There are many celebrations during this week: for example at Shrewsbury, his birth place, there is a Darwin Festival. Although Darwin's ideas were a challenge to some religious people, others such as Aubrey Moore, welcomed them. He wrote in 1889:

"The one absolutely impossible conception of God, in the present day, is that which represents him as an occasional visitor… At the moment when it seemed as if he would be thrust out all together Darwinism appeared, and, under the disguise of a foe, did the work of a friend. … Either God is everywhere present in nature, or He is nowhere."

Aubrey Moore (1848-1890, theologian & philosopher; from 'The Christian Doctrine of God' in 'Lux Mundi', 12th edition, ed C Gore, Paris: Murray, 1891, p73).

Further Thoughts

Charles Kingsley (1819-1875, novelist and Anglican Evangelical) also praised Darwin's ideas about evolution and wrote in "The Water Babies" that:

"God makes things make themselves"

John Habgood, Archbishop of York from 1983-95, wrote:

"The mechanism of evolution, in particular the element of chance, has always caused difficulties for those who believe that the universe is the work of a loving creator. It is important, therefore to distinguish between a random process and a process which contains a random element. ... A process containing a random element ... in which random possiblities are selected and developed in the light of previous developments and under the pressure of particular circumstances, may be highly purposive. In fact there is good reason to suppose that much creative activity takes place in precisely this way. Creativity entails the exploration of hitherto undreamt of possibilites, and randomization is one of the ways of generating these. In evolutionary terms, chance may this be an expression of God's super-abundance."

John Habgood (1927-; from 'A New Dictionary of Christian Theology', ed Richardson & Bowden, London: SCM, 1983, p196).