Why do so many creationist claim that Charles Darwin recanted his work on his deathbed?

Question

Charles Darwin recounted in his biography of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin how false stories were circulated claiming that Erasmus had called for Jesus on his deathbed. Charles concluded by writing "Such was the state of Christian feeling in this country [in 1802].... We may at least hope that nothing of the kind now prevails." Despite this hope, very similar stories were circulated following Darwin's own death, most prominently the "Lady Hope Story", published in 1915 which claimed he had converted on his sickbed.Such stories have been propagated by some Christian groups, to the extent of becoming urban legends, though the claims were refuted by Darwin's children and have been dismissed as false by historians. His daughter, Henrietta, who was at his deathbed, said that he did not convert to Christianity.His last words were, in fact, directed at Emma: "Remember what a good wife you have been."

Is the best ammo creationist's can come up with to discredit Darwin an urban legend?

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin#Active_into_old_age

I only use wikipedia as a guide to reference.There are other far more fact based references that I could use but to save time I pointed to wikipedia since it does have the facts on this topic correct.

Hey Johnny,
Which page and what sentence does he say he does not believe in evolution?Is that a fact or something you heard?Give proof of your statements.Saying something without pointing to the facts and having references to substantiate your claims does not make your claims true.

Answer 1

Creationists are a very fragile bunch. If they can't believe page 1 of the Bible, they are lost. To protect that page, the will lie and hate their neighbor since it's just that important to them. "Scientific" Creationism has become a religion to replace Christianity.

Answer 2

It doesn't matter whether he recanted or not. Personally, I never believed he did. What DOES matter is the fact that his theory can never be proven. With any other scientific theory, evidence can be found to support it.
He set forth his hypothesis in his Origins book. There is no evidence to support the idea that man came from ANY other species. Therefore, his hypothesis has, as of yet, failed.
This is not according to Christian or creationist belief, either. This is according to the tenets of SCIENCE.
That is NOT to say that there has not been some kind of evolution. I believe there has. But I DO NOT accept that a bird can "evolve" into a reptile, or a reptile into a bird, or a cold-blooded animal into a warm-blooded mammal. Sorry, there is no evidence to support it, and it's simply impossible.
Evolution's formula is as follows: Stuff + time + more time= more different stuff.
If that's the case, should mankind not be evolving into something else? At the VERY least, we should have, by this time, no longer be born with an appendix. Perhaps the defective gene that leads to bad eyesight should ALSO have disappeared.
Is this the case? No.
The only evolution I believe in is a bit of micro-evolution. For example, the fact that over the last four hundred years, our average height has climbed.
HOWEVER, although that proves that there is some evolution within species, it also says that the time needed for a species to evolve into something more desirable (and height makes sense these days) is much shorter than originally thought.

So, when it comes right down to it, does it REALLY matter whether Darwin recanted or not? Not to me it doesn't.

Answer 3

good point. Christians should check their facts... but I daresay the concept of "urban legends" has been used, wittingly or unwittingly, by non-believers to discredit true Christianity since Christ's resurrection! "Tell everyone that someone stole the body!" the authorities said back then. And that "urban legend" - and many others -are alive and well!!

god bless!!

Answer 4

I think most everyone now knows that a tiger can't change his stripes. Well, maybe an evolutionist can, I don't know.

I would, however, caution against taking Wikipedia at its word. It's a compilation, not a textbook.

Answer 5

It's not the best ammo that we have,we have far more credible ideas than that.But I wish others wouldn't keep saying that Darwin recanted,because it isn't true.

Answer 6

because they cannot debunk his theory otherwise --not that I agree with either Darwin's views or the Christian/creationist vision of the world

Answer 7

There is evidence for his repentance. Even he admitted in his book "Origin of the Species" that he didn't believe in evolution.

I Cr 13;8a
12-5-6

Answer 8

I dont. His activities dont interest me at all..