Lincoln, Darwin change history, religious thought
This is a great article about Lincoln, Darwin and
the effect they each had on their time as well as how they continue to spur
conversation and debate here in the modern world. They share a birthdate, the
ability to see the field (reference to the movie 'The Legend of Bagger Vance'),
and inspire as well as offend.
by
Charles
Honey |
The
Grand
Rapids
Press |
February
14,
2009When
the
English
biologist
Charles
Darwin
published
"The
Origin
of
Species
by
Means
of
Natural
Selection"
in
1859,
the
former
theology
student
knew
his
theory
of
evolution
would
cause
a
scientific
and
religious
uproar.
He
confided
to
family
and
friends
it
was
"like
confessing
a
murder."But
within
two
years,
President
Abraham
Lincoln
saw
a
military
corollary
of
Darwin's
theory
play
out
as
the
North's
superior
firepower
vanquished
Southern
soldiers:
survival
of
the
fittest
on
ruthless
display.While
Darwin
studied
finches
and
fossils,
the
bones
of
dead
Americans
provided
a
grisly
case
study
of
what
later
became
known
as
social
Darwinism,
says
one
historian."Once
Darwin
became
known,
(people)
could
look
back
at
the
Civil
War
and
say,
'That's
the
laboratory.
You
can
see
it
happen,'"
says
James
Bratt,
professor
of
religious
and
intellectual
history
at
Calvin
College.Meanwhile,
Lincoln
surveyed
the
bloody
laboratory
and,
in
his
1865
second
inaugural
address,
invoked
a
mysterious
yet
merciful
God
by
quoting
Psalm
19:
"The
judgments
of
the
Lord
are
true
and
righteous
altogether.""He
was
not
a
Christian
by
most
measures
of
the
term,"
Bratt
says.
"And
yet
he
gives
a
more
Christ-like
expression
of
forgiveness
and
humility
than
virtually
all
the
pulpiteers
around
him."click here to read more
Filed Sat - February 14, 2009, 05:57 PM in
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