Where did this Christian urban myth about Charles Darwin come from?

Question

I have read many, many times on here where someone states that even Darwin was a Christian, and he recanted his theory on his deathbed. This is a lie. Why must fundies insist on bending the truth to try and make their beliefs seem more like reality?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin
There is your evidence. Check it out yourself. He continued his work until the day he died.

Thanks for your brilliant input Dr. Dino. I am so glad we have you creationists, with all your evidence to set us straight.

Mr. Hawk: Your first mistake is getting any scientific information from Kent Hovind. The man is nothing more than a fraud. He will bend anything to make it seem like it fits in the Bible. Second, the hoaxes that have been pulled have been discovered by other scientists. This is the advantage of peer review. There are numerous REAL fossils of homo erectus, australopithecus, and several other relatives of homosapiens. Go to school, and don't take what some bible-thumper puts on the internet as fact

Answer 1

Evolution is not science fiction. It's a documented fact that terrifies most Christians because it means they just might have to reevaluate their belief system to be a little more flexible. I love the quote they use too, that Darwin said man comes from apes. What he actually said was that man and ape had a common ancestor that eventually split into two groups to become modern man and the modern apes.

Answer 2

Evolution us not contradictory to the Bible, it is contradictory to many people's interpretation of the Bible. The order God created the earth as described in Genesis is accurate, the actual mechanics are left to science. Faith begins were science ends. Consider this:
1) Research has shown that the requirements for life are so complex that chance and even billions of years could not have produced them. That's why scientists having started suggesting life was seeded from other planets, such as mars, to give evolution more time.
2) Natural selection cannot produce new genes; it only selects among preexisting characteristics.
3) Mutations are the only proposed mechanism by which new genetic material becomes available for evolution. Almost all observable mutations are harmful; many are fatal.
4) The simplest form of life consists of 600 different protein molecules. The mathematical probability that just one molecule could form by the chance arrangement of the proper amino acids is far less than 1 in 10^527 (10 to the 527th power). The magnitude of the number 10^527 can begin to be appreciated by realizing that the visible universe is about 10^28 inches in diameter.

Finally, one of the pillars of science is cause and effect. Without God, any theory re: the origin of the universe becomes circular or, at best, something from nothing. IE- What caused the big bang? A singularity? Where did that come from?

Science ends where faith begins.

Answer 3

From what I had read about it (and the conclusion that had been drawn) was that there was the possibility that Hope *had* in fact visited Darwin, but that she had embellished her story and slanted it to suit her purposes.

Having read her narrative, I would be inclined to agree.

It comes off more as a "Chicken Soup" tale or Hallmark television episode, than the sort of interaction that would have occurred between normal people... especially one of such an intellectual and concrete bent as Darwin. It smacks of exaggeration, meant to prove a point of some sort.

As far as why? Rhetorical question, I know; but

1. If you can claim an ideological "enemy" converted to your faith, you weaken the ideology he represents and strengthen your own position.

2. People don't know any better. The idea sounds grand to them and fits with what they would like to believe. It suggests that, in the end, everyone will believe the same way and "turn to the good." We tend to hear what we want to hear.

3. They always assume that whatever rumors they hear, if the person is someone of the same belief system as them, they must be true. This sort of urban legend thing is common not just in religious circles but in the general public. It's simply how most people work, until they get some experience with it (and sometimes not even then).

Personally, I don't think anyone's faith should hinge on whether or not Darwin converted. It's just a "red herring."

Answer 4

Scientists have "found" the missing links before proving evolution but they have been disproven time and time again, yet they continue to use them as proof and put them in textbooks to teach their theory, that to me is not a sign of true science, it's a theory thought up by someone who didn't want to believe in God and was looking for ways to do it, watch the videos by Kent Hovan, a christian creationist who blows the evolution theory out of the water, do a search on it and get the videos from the library or something, remember, if evolution is true, life has no meaning and we are wasting our time arguing on here, you might as well have fun in life because when you die, there's nothing else, kinda pointless, and evolutionists says that everything came from nothing?? I think that is more illogical than saying that God exists, but man as a whole will not accept that there is a God who rules the world.

Answer 5

I don't understand why evolution vs. creation in 7 24hr days is such a big deal. Genesis could be literal, or it could just be a metaphor for what really happened. But what you believe about how exactly the world began has no influence over your soul. What does the bible tell us about what we need for salvation? love God, love your neighbor as yourself, accept Jesus as the messiah, repent, and be baptized. There is nothing about creation in those things. Yes, christians are supposed to believe what the bible says, but the bible is not a literal text 100% of the time. Relax about evolution and concentrate on what is important, Jesus.

Answer 6

I don't believe Darwin was a Christian or even that he recanted his theory. Instread it is said that he said something like "If any part of my Theory is proved wrong my whole Theory would fall apart" Thats were intelligent design comes in and to think the we just happened is proof enough that his theory is wrong.

Answer 7

Even if true, this story about recanting the theory of evolution doesn't matter. The theory had by then proceeded to become acceptable and accepted by science, and even if the original theorizer went insane and declared himself "God-King Arthur Napoleon Christ the Inflatable" the theory itself stands. Ideas should be judged based on their own merits, not on the merits of the speaker.

Answer 8

Honestly I have no idea. As a Christian I have to point out that you are absolutely correct in that Darwin never recanted. Not all of us "bend the truth". I admit that many of my fellow believers are poorly informed, but that is no reason to assume that none of us know why we believe what we believe. God bless and good luck.

Answer 9

i don't know but if you want a truly honest christian perspective try reading some madeline l'engle she truly believes in creation and yet has no problem reconcilling it with evolution using passages from the bible. i mention this not to try and bend your ideals but as an information source you might appreciate...........peace timothy

Answer 10

Evolution is science fiction