Charles Lyell (1797–1875) and the conflict between the new geology and religion
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Abstract
The last third of the 18th century and the 19th century witnessed the confrontation between geology and faith. Advances in Earth Sciences clashed with the fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible defended by Catholic and Protestant theologians. Geology called into question certain ‘truths’ of faith, such as the Great Flood, the creation of species directly by God, and the creation of man from clay. To illustrate one of these controversies, we have chosen the one sparked by Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology. The reason is very simple: the Geological Society of London is celebrating the bicentenary of his birth in 1797 with a major international conference this year. Charles Lyell was harshly attacked by many distinguished members of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which were dominated by the Church of England. But, at the opposite end of the spectrum, Lyell was discredited by Darwinists for not accepting the emerging evolutionary paradigm.
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