Darwin and Baptists

Karl Giberson has written another article on the Huffington Post Religion page called How Darwin Sustains My Baptist Search for the Truth.  In it, he opens with a plea for truth.  Too often, the opponents of evolution descend to misinformation and misunderstanding to score debate points.  In this case, Giberson takes aim at Al Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.


In a lecture, Mohler sought to explain how so many Christians believe the world is only a few thousand years old.  During the discussion, he takes aim at Charles Darwin by making up facts to fit his story.  As Giberson notes:

He apparently wanted to undermine evolution by suggesting that it was "invented" to prop up Darwin's worldview, rather than developed to explain observations in the natural world. 

Mohler and other anti-evolutionists have claimed that Darwin embarked on the Voyage of the Beagle to prove evolution, instead of developing the theory upon his return.  Unfortunately for Mohler, Darwin's records clearly indicate the development of natural selection long after coming home to the Down House.

Darwin's personal journey continued after the Beagle and has been studied by many historians and scientists.

Darwin's religious journey has been the subject of intense scrutiny and even entire books. He struggled throughout his life with issues of faith. He did eventually lose his childhood Anglican faith, but he lost it reluctantly and not until middle age, long after his famous voyage on the Beagle. Toward the end of his life he wrote to an old friend about the painful experience of losing his faith: "I was very unwilling to give up my belief."

In every discussion I have had with Creationists/Fundamentalists, I spend the majority of my time correcting their falsehoods, misunderstandings, and, sometimes, outright lies.  It is never a discussion about Evolutionary Theory, but about their confusion on the subject.  If we are to have serious discussions about the reconciliation of science and religion, we must first agree to an honest debate based on facts.