Page:Carroll Lane Fenton - Darwin and the Theory of Evolution.djvu/44

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It is a strange thing that Darwin, whose work has exerted the most profound influence on religious thought, neither wrote or said much on the subject. This was true in spite of the fact that, like most thoughtful people, he had religion often in mind, and had definite ideas regarding it. Darwin saw himself as a scientist, and a scientist only; he felt wholly at sea in matters of technical philosophy and theology. Apparently it did not occur to him that religion really had no need of high-sounding technicalities, and that a man could get quite as far by using common sense alone as by using common sense wrapped up in big words, and hollow formulæ. He knew that he lacked specialized training in fields of abstract thought, and therefore he considered his views on religion as being "of no real consequence" to anyone but himself.

That was a safe position, and perhaps a very just one, yet we are in no way obliged to adopt it. If for no other reason than to form a correct picture of the man, we should inquire as to his attitude on such subjects as gods, revelation, and teleology. Probably there is no better way to conduct this inquiry than to trace, as well as we can, the development of Darwin's opinion, from the time when he first began to analyze his belief to the time when he last stated it.