Two Notable Occasions of Importance to Science

DWill · Senior Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Posts: 379 Gender:

The day before yesterday was the 150th anniversary of the presentation to the public of Darwin's theory of natural selection. Garrison Keillor made this the centerpiece of his "Writer's Almanac" on NPR. According to his account, it was Darwin's fear of not being able to provide for his large family that finally propelled him to publish. The dangers of publication were rejection--because Darwin was known more as a geologist than as a biologist--and imprisionment for atheism.

Villanova University has mounted an exhibit on the man responsible for completing Darwin's theory, the monk Gregor Mendel. The story can be read through the following link: http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jun/28/evolution-and-faith/
Though previous in time to Darwin's publication, no one recognized the importance of his findings until the turn of the century. The Neo-Darwinian synthesis that now is held to explain much of how life developed is a result of the combined work of these two great scientists.

It won't be lost on anyone that Mendel was a member of a religious order. Darwin himself was expected to join the clergy, an occupation considered appropriate for amateurs of science. Darwin's faith in a creator God was shaken, if not broken, by the end of his life, but he amassed the wealth of his evidence for his theory while still believing in the biblical outline of creation. My point is that Darwin and Mendel both are examples of the benefit that Christianity has had for science, historically. They are far from the only significant examples of scientists who were nurtured by the Christian worldview to look systematically at creation. (Long, long ago, even Islam provided an environment conducive to science.)

Sometimes atheist authors ignore these facts, claiming that no one became able to think scientifically until the spell of religion was broken. This is a distorted view, close to rewriting history. It is not much better than the distortions perpetrated on the opposite, creationist, extreme.

DWill

Saffron · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:35 pm Post subject:

DWill wrote:


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