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Darwin’s Origin of
Species: Theology
or Science?
by Wilfred Theisen, OSB
“The antithesis that some assume exists
between the concept of creation and
evolution is absurd.” (Pope Benedict XVI)
Charles Darwin’s Origin of
Species is the most significant
scientific work of the past 350
years. Quite an achievement for a man
whose father told him, “You care for
nothing but shooting, dogs and ratcatching
and you will be a disgrace to
yourself and all your family.”
Darwin (1809-1882) was confident
that natural selection was the chief
means for explaining the origin of
species. But biologists of his time
were convinced that the contemporary
species of plants and animals were
directly created by God. Consequently
the Origin argues that natural selection
is the only explanation for the
origin of species, not special creation.
Darwin had to address a fundamental
theological concept—God as creator
of the world.
Before the religiously conservative
Darwin could convince others, he had
to be certain that special creation must
be rejected as an explanation for the
existence of species. He was a great
Charles Darwin
admirer of the works of William
Paley, especially his Natural
Theology.
Natural theology is the belief
that one can infer the existence and
wisdom of God from the order and
beauty of the world, implying that
every detail of the physical world was
carefully designed by God: the hand
for grasping, the eye for seeing, the
ear for hearing. The key word here is
design. When he began his roundthe-world
voyage on the Beagle,
Darwin was prepared to find
evidence confirming this belief.
Instead, he found many facts that
seemed to contradict it. When he
returned from his voyage he wrote a
note to himself: “Permanence of species
doubtful.”
The plan of the Origin is simple.
Darwin first gives facts that can be
explained through his theory of descent
with modification by means of
natural selection but are incompatible
with belief in special creation. Then
he shows that the belief in special
FEATURE
creation is incompatible with these
facts. For example, in chapter 11 he
deals with the issue of geographical
distribution of plants and animals
throughout the world. He was amazed
to find distinct species of finches and
mocking birds on the various islands
of the Galapagos Archipelago, even
though these islands are proximate.
In chapter 13 Darwin points out the
similarity in basic structure between
“the hand of a man, the leg of the
horse, the paddle of the porpoise and
the wing of a bat. Why should they all
be constructed on the same pattern?
Nothing can be more hopeless than to
attempt to explain this similarity of
pattern. . . On the ordinary view of the
independent creation of each being,
we can only say so it is, that it has so
pleased the Creator to construct each
animal and plant. On the theory of
natural selection, we can satisfactorily
answer this question. The old argument
of design in nature, as given by
Paley, which formerly seemed to me
so conclusive, fails, now that natural
selection has been discovered.”
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Abbey Banner Spring 2010 page 15