MOW ON RENTAL
Sc i ence and t he Bi b l e
c S ï L decade ofDECISION
by Bolton Davidbeiser Chairman, S cience D ivision Biola College
Darwin's Illness
vinced (quite contrary to the position I started with) that species are not- (it is like confessing a murder) im mutable.” When he finally published his book he sent out presentation cop ies to various scientists with such notes as, “ . . . how savage you will be, if you read it, and how you will try to crucify me alive.” D esire for h o n o r . Although evo lutionary papers published by men who were not scientists were being severely criticized, there were men of science who were considering evolu tion seriously. Darwin was caught in a conflict between his fear of publish ing and his desire to publish before some other scientist beat him to it. His friends, particularly the geolo gist Charles Lyell, urged him to pub lish before someone else took from him the glory of being first to present to the scientific world an acceptable theory of evolution. Then one day Darwin received a letter from Alfred Russell Wallace which contained a perfect abstract of his own theory. He was deeply hurt, as one can see from his correspondence, but he re mained a perfect gentleman. At the recommendation of his friends he published a statement on evolution jointly with Wallace and being thus forced to end his procrastination he brought out his Origin of Species the following year, 1859. R e lig io u s c o n v ic t io n s . Earlier in the same year that Darwin sailed on the voyage that changed his life he had completed his studies for the min istry. His views were orthodox and during the early part of the expedi tion he wrote of creation in the Bibli cal sense. He quoted Scripture to set tle an argument among the sailors. But evolutionary views and the Word of God are not compatible. This must have added to his inner conflict though he declared, “ Disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress.” History confirms the fact that wher ever evolution is accepted there is a weakening of faith in Scripture and in the atonement from the penalty of sin by the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.
C h arles D a r w in , whose book The Origin of Species brought about, the acceptance of evolution among the men of science, was ill most of his adult life. It is said that for near ly 40 years he did not enjoy one day of the health of ordinary men. His illness has been frequently attributed to the prolonged seasickness he ex perienced during his five-year voyage on the Beagle, but he himself rejected this idea and he seemed well enough for some time after his return. As a young man he had been very vigorous and his chief delight was in hunting with dogs and gun. His trouble has been attributed by various biographers to gout, eyestrain, glandular disturbances, heart trouble (he had palpitations during the time the Beagle was delayed in starting), psychological difficulties brought on by a dominating father, and even to the bite of an assasin bug in South America. In retrospect the cause of his ailment appears to have been men tal rather than physical. As he tried one type of cure after another each made him feel better for a short time — until the novelty of the experience wore off. The only thing that really brought relief was interesting work, while any unpleasantness made his symptoms worse. It seems more than a coincidence that his illness began in 1837, the same year that he started the work which culminated, after much pro crastination, in his Origin of Species. The emotional strains which arose from this work may be grouped un der three headings: F ear o f c r it ic is m . The idea of evo lution was not a popular one at that time. His grandfather, Erasmus Dar win, had published evolutionary views and had been severely criti cized for it. A book on evolution called The Vestiges of Creation was pub lished anonymously and met strong opposition. Its author was found out and as a result his political ambitions came to an end. In 1844, seven years after he had begun his work on evo lution, Darwin broached the subject apologetically to a friend in the fol lowing words, “ . . . I am almost con
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AUGUST, 1962
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