Post by JEM on Aug 4, 2013 1:32:34 GMT
THIS ARTICLE ARISES FROM SOME DEBATE ON FACEBOOK regarding the Speculative Theories of EVOLUTION and the BIG BANG
in which reference was made to Charles Darwin's change of mind regarding God during the last year of his life which was refuted by members of his close family, particularly his sons Francis [ author of the "LIFE AND LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN"and Leonard the leading light in the Eugenics movement in England which sought to improve the bloodstock by limiting the breeding of the less "fit 2 members of society [ an idea adopted later by Hitler ]. Both would have regarded Darwin's change of mind as embarrassing,
Just for the Record. Regarding Darwin's death bed conversion refuted by his family. His conversion was not on his death bed.
They had good cause to refute any such account and his wife kept away anyone but the immediate family.
I am quoting not from the Internet but from a 4 page leaflet published in November 1996 by Dr David Rosevear, No 309 in a series by the CSM which refers to an earlier leaflet, No 50, now out of print, from the 1930's.
In his autobiography Charles Darwin claimed to be an agnostic. He had begun life brought up as an Anglican and he studied theology at Cambridge to become a Minister of the Church. However he changed his mind because of the influence of his wife Emma who came from the Unitarian family of Wedgewood. Unitarians are not Christians or at least they don't believe in the Trinity conception that most Christians do. She was devout in her beliefs and attended her church regularly with the children while he went rambling on his own returning just as they were leaving to walk home together.
He was further dissuaded from belief by his associate Charles Lyle whom he describes as “being thoroughly liberal in his religious beliefs, or rather disbeliefs”
Charles wrote of his own gradual loss of any belief in God while formulating his theory of origins and he then believed the Old Testament was no more to be believed that the sacred books of the Hindus.
He was further turned off God by the death of his daughter.
So for the greater part of his life he was an agnostic bordering on atheist.
However in late September or early October 1881, shortly after the death of his brother “Ras” which had been a very heavy loss to him Charles' thoughts had turned to his own future, six months before he died.
Diary records show that he was visited then by a woman known as Lady Hope, the recently widowed wife of Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Hope. She claimed that when visited, he was reading his Bible, reading from the Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament which he described as “The Royal Book” and said “Isn't it grand?”. Lady Hope was very much involved in the Temperance Movement which Charles and his wife also supported. She asked him about what men were saying about his book and he replied “ I was a young man with unformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time of everything and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion of them” He went on to ask her to speak the following day to their neighbours and she asked “What should I speak about?” and Darwin replied “Christ Jesus and his salvation. Is not that the best theme?”
A week after his funeral service according to a diary of a gentleman at Tenby, where Charles' cousin the Rev J A Wedgwood lived, a clergyman of the name of Huntingdon preached and referred to Charles' confession of faith. Three years after Charles death his friend Admiral Sir James Sullivan wrote of Darwin's generous giving to Christian missionary work. Two years later a Minister in Toronto referred to his conversion. Charles' Temperance friend James Fegan visited Toronto regularly by virtue of his work resettling orphan boys. A Social work Darwin commended and donated towards. 15 years after Darwin's death Sir Robert Anderson former head of Scotland Yard's CID referred to the story too in his book “In Defence. A plea for the Faith”.
Mr Fegan in his biography quotes a full letter from Charles Darwin of Down House granting him full use of the schoolroom he rented at Down and expressing enthusiasm for his Christian work. Darwin's butler Passlow and housekeeper Mrs Sales had both been converted at the meetings and Darwin altered the time of the family dinner hour to allow all who wished to do so to attend the meetings.
Many people scoffed at the existence of a Lady Hope but Leslie G Pine, Barrister at Law, and one time Editor of Burke's Peerage, in 1979 confirmed that under the entry of Viscount Combermere he found mention of Elizabeth Reid Stapleton Cotton the daughter of General Sir Arthur Cotton and his wife, both of whom supported her Temperance work generously. who had married and early in 1881 was widowed by the death of Sir James Hope, admiral of the Fleet. She had written a lot of books as Lady Hope and she retained this name professionally after she later married Mr T A Denny and was referred to as Lady Hope right up to her death in 1922.
Given her position in society she would not have been likely to have made up her account concerning her visit to Charles and she would have known of the reaction of his sons. Mr Denny was also a great supporter of the Band of Hope Union, her temperance cause.
According to the book "RECOLLECTIONS OF OLD DORKING" by William Dinnage [ 1870 - 1963 ] before her marriage to Admiral Hope at the age of 35, as Miss Cotton lived at Dorking with her parents where she shared her father's zeal for the spread of Gospel Temperance message through out the district. where she held simple Gospel meetings at the "Beckenham Rooms" on certain week nights alongside running a Coffee Sop, and on Sunday afternoons, and where she played the harmonium and in the evenings she led services at 8pm in the large upper room of the Public Hall drawing large audiences. There are accounts of her continued temperance work in Scotland with Sir James Hope, and in London and the villages of Kent with her second husband Mr Denny. Her friends included Lord Shaftesbury, Commissioner Frederick Booth-Tucker of the Salvation Army, Sir Robert Anderson, and Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey American evangelists who visited Britain several times to hold missions.
The conclusion of many of his friends was that Charles Darwin died a Christian, but his sons continued to deny it as they were not willing to become Christians themselves as they were making fortunes out of the application of his earlier writings.
Since God could convince Charles, he can convince anyone who is willing to believe in Him, but without exercising faith in Him, he will not be known.