Did Charles Darwin blame God for the Death of His daughter?

We must study the state of the life of Charles Darwin. Did he blame God for the death of his son? Why should one accept all the views of Charles Darwin? Yes, I admit that there was a great difference in life forms through the millions of years of our universe; however, why can’t the Gap Theory be valid too? Show me a transitional form. I have never seen one. Don’t other scientists from very fine schools have a right to believe in other models of creation? Aren’t we a land of freedom of speech and thought on both sides of the issue? Are scientists omniscient? No! I do not know everything, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Do you know everything? I do not think so. My doctor is a Hindu, and I am a Baptist. Do I try to make her look silly? I must certainly say that I do not. I treat her with the utmost respect. I do not always sense this here. Can I believe in BioLogos? Yes. Can I believe in some other model of creation? Yes. We shall not know all the answers until the Second Advent. We may not know them then. No matter what we believe, we must have respect for other views. I know that if Theistic Evolution is to be accepted by the church that scientists who are not religious must respect those who are. I sense a spiritual deadness in people like Dawkins. I am very sure I will receive negative answers in relation to my statement.

THIS is the only thing you write that I agree with.

George

It was Darwin’s daughter who died.

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Darwin’s life is irrelevant. Evolution was actually co-discovered by Alfred Russel Wallace, so will you also scrutinize his life?

The evidence for evolution is massive and diverse, and builds with every year since it was proposed around 150 years ago. It has nothing to do with Darwin’s personal life.

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@AMWolfe,@gbrooks9,@beaglelady,@BradKramer

It is nice to hear from you. I must disagree with you since events like the death of a daughter can affect a person’s thinking. Darwin was going to be a minister in the Church of England; however, he seemed to become a bitter old man. Evolution should not have caused this. Even Benjamin Warfield of Princeton Theological Seminary accepted it and said that it only showed the greatness of God. I am an educated man; therefore, I know about the information. Amos Yong of BioLogos was Dean of the School of Divinity at Regent University, a Christian institution where science is a welcome subject. I have made many friends there at their meetings discussing science and philosophy. Yes, our mental states sometimes can bring on bitterness. Darwin was no exception. I am also a historian; therefore, such things interest me. At least, Darwin was able to have a child for a time. Nancy and I never had children, because she had cancer. I was so afraid I was going to be without her. I prayed to God not to take her, and He spared her inspite of that terrible disease. My mother went to heaven that same year. If I had lost both of them, I would have been absolutely alone. Darwin’s life was not irrelevant. Any event not only affects the person who causes it, but it always affects their thinking and that can affect the world, since Mr. Darwin lost his daughter and was an influential man. Remember that he was only human; however, his thoughts have affected everything. I am quite sure that Mr. Darwin had not intention to cause evil; however, a mad man was affected by Darwinism. His name was Adolf Hitler. You seem insulted, and I suppose it is because writing does not always show the emotions of all people. Perhaps I am misreading your statement. I would like to think that. As a Christian who knows Darwin very well, I do not accept every finding of his. I have no doubt that evolution is true; however, it can be misused. Think of Social Darwinism. I know what I am talking about since I am a Germanic scholar. Hitler used it to make other human beings less than human; therefore, he had no problem killing them. An Intelligent Designer caused evolution to occur to create our wonderful world. That was God. Darwin left him out; therefore, I was wondering if the death of a child caused that. It is a legitimate question. We need to study a person of great importance to understand why they thought some things, e.g. atheism or agnosticism. Dr. Pat Robertson of Regent University believes in progressive evolution guided by God. He is a fellow Southern Baptist even though he is also Charismatic in his theology. I am not Charismatic; on the contrary, I am a moderate conservative Southern Baptist. I do believe that people have a right to reject an issue if they wish; therefore, I criticize no one about their belief in evolution or Young Earth Creationism. However, if one accepts evolution, it should be BioLogos and not atheistic evolution. I am a Christian and will not accept an atheistic view of evolution. These discussions should be scholarly and friendly; therefore, control your emotions. If I am wrong about you, then I owe you, an apology. In any case, God bless.

I stand corrected. I wish others could be like you. You are a very kind person. God bless.

Thank you, George. No, we do not agree on most things; however, I respect you. I do thank you again.

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If my response was harsh, I apologize. I was not insulted, just perhaps overwhelmed by so many questions. You put ten of them in one paragraph! :slight_smile: It might help to narrow down your question to just one for the sake of discussion. Even so, I could have written more graciously.

Perhaps also I misread what you said. It seemed to me you were implying that evolutionary creationists followed Charles Darwin like some kind of prophet. My point in response was that, as an evolutionary creationist, I believe in evolution — that is to say, descent with modification — on the strength of the evidence, never mind whether it was Charles Darwin or Alfred Russel Wallace or Mickey Mouse who put it together. :slight_smile:

I don’t doubt that Darwin’s life is interesting and that one’s personal life affects how one formulates ideas in professional and academic spheres. For me personally, I see no need to study Darwin’s life in order to make up my mind about the evidence for the theory that he is associated with. Transitional fossils, for instance, are numerous, and can be observed and understood without any reference whatever to Darwin’s biographical details.

I’m glad to hear this. I agree. In my experience it has been the anti-evolution crowd that shows no respect for other views. Apparently your experience has been the opposite, and I’m sorry to hear that. We evolutionary creationists should make it our aim to be models of grace. BioLogos as a whole I feel does a great job at that. I’ll try and follow their lead.

You are a great person. I am sorry I misjudged your comments. I suppose I do put forth a bit too much. I am just a thinker whose mind tends to go into my directions. I will try to control that.

Eddie,

It is good to hear your wisdom. I can see what you mean. Good job! I hope for the sake of Charles’ soul that he still believed in our Lord.

That is a very good answer, Eddie. I truly appreciate your thoughts on this. Why did I ask this question? People who lack faith in God tend to beat Christians over the head, e.g., Dawkins. Darwin seemed to have bitterness against the church. I do not mean due to his discovery; on the contrary, it seemed to me that it was after the death of his daughter, but I could be wrong. He was typical for his time as you said. I believe the death conversion story was apocryphal too. Yes, I know that some Christians hold to at least partial conditional immortality, i.e., the human soul and body of the unsaved are destroyed at the Last Judgment based upon Matthew 10:28. These do not always hold to soul-sleep, however. I have a book on the topic by a Messianic Jew. I would like to thank you too for your wisdom and conversation.

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