by Steve Bro

Created on: June 09, 2010   Last Updated: April 06, 2011

It has been claimed, by some over-zealous admirers of Charles Darwin, that he “killed God”. That is quite a claim, especially considering the centuries of faith that preceded Darwin, not to mention the intense faith of billions alive today. If Darwin did indeed “kill God”, someone needs to inform the world’s population!

When the name Darwin is mentioned, his name is automatically associated with evolution and atheism. It is absolutely true that Darwin’s name and achievements are synonymous with the theory of evolution but, is it also so clear that Darwin intended to identify himself as an atheist, and the man who “killed God”? The most devout follower of Darwinism is in no doubt that Charles Darwin, through scientific experiment, revealed a fundamental truth about life on earth, namely that, all life was the result of random, undirected accidents and that, as such, mankind had been living a delusion about a Creator for millennia. Those that eagerly accepted Darwin’s findings breathed a sigh of relief that they need no longer worry about a fictitious God and his restrictive moral standards. They could have kicked themselves (and their ancestors) for having wasted so many years kneeling in churches, loving their neighbours and talking to the sky, or a cross or a statue! At last, thanks to this champion of science and reason, they were free!

Is that how their master, the Great Darwin felt? Apparently not. Here was a man of intelligence and passion, a man plagued by illness and bereavement, and a man who was driven to find truth. But why was Charles Darwin looking for “the truth”? What was it that made him so uncomfortable in the presence of God that he felt the need to question God’s very existence?

History, especially Darwin’s personal history, reveals something that most people would find surprising, even astonishing. The evolution of Darwin’s theory of evolution has more to do with religion than one would at first suspect. In the accomplishments of this iconic man there is an irony so profound that it seems absurd. It was the established church, or at least it’s doctrine, which drove Darwin down the path of philosophy and natural selection. Allow me to reflect on some of the key points in Charles Darwin’s life.

Many might be surprised to know that Charles Darwin was not the first intellectual to propose that mankind was descended from previous, inferior life forms. Centuries

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