It is hard not to be moved when you get this in the mail. I never imagined that people would reach out in this way pic.twitter.com/Wm1YS0IWdv
— George Hook (@ghook) February 12, 2015
Newstalk’s George Hook received a bible in the post today, prompting him to contemplate his very place in the world. Rather fitting that the holy text should find itself in Hook’s hands today, given that February 12th is also known as Darwin Day.
Tune in live at 4.30pm to hear what George has to say on it: http://www.newstalk.com/player/
Charles Darwin, considered one of the greatest minds of the Victorian era didn’t always get the attention his work demanded. Far from the bible-waving creationists who still today point to On the Origin of Species as a godless tome, when it was first published in 1859, many just ignored it.
At the time, the president of London’s Geological Society presented Darwin with an award for his geological surveys of the Andes in Argentina and his insightful look at barnacles. Welcoming the evolutionary scientist to the stage, the president didn’t even mention Darwin’s other book.
While the theory of evolution is widely an accepted truth around the world today, parts of the world still view Darwin with disdain – and occasionally open hostility. But that is a relatively modern phenomenon, as back in puritan society of Victorian Britain, the Church of England wasn’t all that fussed. In fact, the predominant theological belief at the time was very akin to contemporary theory – that the bible is a series of metaphorical messages rather than an accurate description of the origins of life on Earth by way of wayward apple munching.
In 1860, after the book’s initial print run had sold out and divided the scientific community, Frederick Temple, who would later become the Archbishop of Canterbury, openly praised Darwin’s theories. In a sermon at the Rugby School, Temple resolutely said that science could concoct all the laws and rules they wanted to simplify the universe, but that “the finger of God” would be in all of them while they were doing so.
Another influential church leader of the day, Rev Charles Kingsley, even wrote directly to Darwin, congratulating him on his achievement. “Even better than making the world,” he wrote, “God makes the world make itself!”
On the Origin of Species didn’t receive a warm welcome everywhere in the Church of England, and Darwin often opened newspapers and reviews to find his head drawn onto that of a monkey.
But the church made amends; on his death, Darwin received one of the greatest honours any British scientist could hope for, and was officially buried in Westminster Abbey.
And 126 years later in 2008, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, the Church even officially apologised for ever having voiced criticism of his theory, and now officially promote the theory on their website.
Their apology reads as follows:
Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practice the old virtues of 'faith seeking understanding' and hope that makes some amends. But the struggle for your reputation is not over yet, and the problem is not just your religious opponents but those who falsely claim you in support of their own interests. Good religion needs to work constructively with good science – and I dare to suggest that the opposite may be true as well.
