About Darwin and His Beliefs

Charles Darwin Day is celebrated globally and is considered a very significant day by those interested in science and reason. Charles Darwin Day marks the birth of evolutionary biologist Charles Robert Darwin.

About Darwin

Born on February 12, 1809 (shares his birthday with Abraham Lincoln) in England, Darwin was the fifth of six children of a well-to-do doctor Robert Darwin. He started studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh. However, to the great disappointment of his father, young Charles did not show interest in medical education. Shortly he joined a student group that had a keen interest in natural history and radical materialism. His father sent him to the University of Cambridge to study divinity, while he showed more interest in hunting, shooting and riding. However, soon Charles met John Stevens Henslow, who encouraged Darwin’s interest in natural sciences.

Charles Darwin Evolution Theory

Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is based on the premise that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor. From tigers to turtles and from dogs to daisies, all life forms are related. According to his theory, complex creatures naturally and over time evolve from simplistic ancestors.

Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

According to Darwin, nature has a way of selection for preserving and gathering advantageous genetic mutations. For instance, if a member of any species developed an advantage, this advantage would be passed on through generations. Members of the same species that did not possess the advantage would gradually disappear. So, natural selection eliminates the inferior species over time.

Charles Darwin: Religious Beliefs

The decline of his faith was triggered by his initial doubts regarding the truth of the first chapters of Genesis. He began to doubt whether the Bible really meant all it said. Although Darwin had great religious influences through his life, it is said that he died a non-believer.

Charles Darwin Quotes

• It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.
• A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
• A man’s friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.
• A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives – of approving of some and disapproving of others.
• I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created parasitic wasps with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars.
• Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.