Charles Darwin’s Atheism or Agnosticism

Abstract

Charles Darwin is one of those figures who must inevitably be mentioned when we discuss the supposed conflict between science and faith. While it is true that Darwin, not being a member of the Catholic Church, had no institutional conflicts with it, as a member of the Church of England he suffered, to some extent, from its rejection. Was Darwin really a “Darwinist”? Did he actively participate in the “Darwinist” movement during his lifetime? Darwin and his writings quickly fell prey to ideologies of all stripes: attacks from the Anglican Church; a lack of understanding of his work, with few exceptions, within the cultural framework of 19th-century Catholicism; held up as confirmation of materialism by Engels; claimed in recent times by the most ferocious capitalist liberalism; and, more recently, in the controversy over “sociobiology.” So-called scientific atheism sought to find in Darwin’s writings confirmation of its exclusion of God. The author attempts to objectively present Darwin’s personal stance on faith.