Did Darwin believe in god

Answer 1

Darwin's views changed during his lifetime; he originally trained to be a Church of England minister, so, presumably, he believed at that stage. Later in his life, particularly after the death of his beloved daughter Annie at the age of ten, he lost all faith in a benevolant God and, presumably in an afterlife. Details of Darwins death at the link. No deathbed conversion back to Christianity, no resounding praise of Atheism. Just an old man at the end of his life.

Answer 2

Darwin did believe in God early in his life. He was even studying for the seminary at one point. However, once pursuing his biological studies, he found that scientific evidence contradicted much of the claims made in The Bible. It was the death of his beloved daughter Annie that finally caused him to lose his faith.

A lot has been written about Darwin's reconversion to Christianity on his deathbed. This has been generally discredited.

Answer 3

Believe it or not, for over half of his life he was a Christian who saw no contradiction between his Theory of Evolution and the existence of God and a spiritual afterlife. Some of his greatest friends were intelligent members of the Anglican Church, one of whom was Bishop Frederick Temple, who went on to become Archbishop of Canterbury. Darwin's refusal to go to, but not enter, his local church on Sundays was not because he was an unbeliever, but because he knew that his evolutionary theories angered some members of the congregation and he did not wish to cause them offence by imposing his presence upon them- he instead stood by the church door to welcome his friends, then after the service was over went in to worship privately by himself and to speak with the vicar. He became an atheist not as a result of his scientific beliefs, but due to the death of his daughter Annie from TB in 1851- he freely acknowledged that his inability to believe in God any longer was not based upon scientific rationale, that the non-existence of God was not provable, and kept the loss of his faith to himself. Subsequent generations have upheld Darwin as being a symbol of anti-religion among their unenlightened members, but this is an ignorant and short-sighted misunderstanding of someone who was a highly complex and intelligent man. Darwin himself would not have wanted himself to become synonymous with atheism, even after losing his own belief.

Answer 4

It appears that Darwin's religious beliefs evolved over the course of his lifetime. In Origin of Species,published in 1859, Charles Darwin identified himself as a believer in Christianity. However, by the time he had written his Autobiography, Darwin had become a professed agnostic, possibly even an atheist.
In his autobiography: "Whilst on board the BeagleI was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the officers (though themselves orthodox) for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some point of morality.
... Another source of conviction in the existence [sic] of God ... follows from the extreme difficulty or rather impossibility of conceiving this immense and wonderful universe, including man with his capability of looking far backwards and far into futurity, as the result of blind chance or necessity. When thus reflecting I feel compelled to look at a first cause having an intelligent mind in some degree analogous to that of man; and I deserve to be called a theist. This conclusion was strong in my mind about the time, as far I can remember, when I wrote the Origin of species; and it is since that time that it has very gradually with many fluctuations become weaker."

Evidence of Darwin's diminishing belief in Christianity:

"Formerly I was led by feelings such as those just referred to, (although I do not think that the religious sentiment was ever strongly developed in me), to the firm conviction of the existence of God, and of the immortality of the soul."
"I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation."
"But I was very unwilling to give up my belief ... Thus disbelief crept over me at very slow rate, but was at last complete."
"The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble to us; and I for one must be content to remain an Agnostic."

Darwin also displayed a strong respect for the "Hindoos", "Mahomadans" and "Buddists", showing himself to be a man of moral integrity.

Answer 5

he did, but later he stopped