Was Darwin ever a Christian?

The bicentenary of Darwin's birth (February 12, 1809) has prompted a shower of articles, documentaries and books on various aspects of his life and work. Atheists have lauded him as a patriarch of their cause, a role which some Christians would also like to assign him, although with less delight.

Other Christians have attempted to rehabilitate Darwin. Their arguments range from resurrecting the old "Darwin recanted on his death bed" story to more thoughtful reassessments of his evolutionary theory. Even the Vatican has contributed to the discussion. The death bed story seems to have little credibility, since his wife and members of his family, who were Christians, did not believe it to be true. But for me the real question is "Was Darwin ever a Christian?"

After reading long extracts from Darwin's Beagle journal and his autobiography I'm not at all convinced that Darwin ever had what might be described as a personal faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Before his Beagle journey he certainly had a belief in God as creator and an unexamined assumption that the Bible was literally true. Prior to joining the Beagle expedition he had been at Cambridge studying to be an Anglican minister. But it seems this was due more to the convenience of being able to continue his scientific studies as the incumbent of some quiet parish rectory, rather than from any deeply held desire to be a minister of the word and sacraments.

Darwin continued to uphold the conventions of being a Christian until he was in his forties, long after his Beagle days. Even in old age he described himself as an agnostic, or even a theist, rather than an atheist. But he no longer attended church or believed that the Bible could be trusted as the word of God.

The Beagle journal reveals a young man (he was still in his early twenties) who could see the benefits of Christianity in raising the moral, social and cultural standards of those who practised it. He was impressed with the work of the missionaries in Tahiti, comparing the natives of Tahiti most favourably with the 'wild' human beings he'd seen elsewhere. Being a Christian and being civilised seemed to be almost synonymous in his mind. But he had no missionary inclinations himself.

In his biography we see that it was not just the difficulty of assimilating a literal view of Genesis 1 with his scientific discoveries that drove him away from Christianity. He had a great sensitivity to the suffering of others, human and animal, and could not reconcile the suffering he saw around him with the God of the Bible. Why would a good God deliberately create a world in which animals and humans thrived at others' expense?

Early in his travels he had been awed by the grandeur of creation, but after more than 5 years at sea, he had seen and studied much that gave him doubts. The death of one of his daughters at the age of 10 weighed on his mind. He found intolerable the idea that since his father, his brother and many of his friends were not believers, they would go to hell. He became an ardent supporter of the anti-slavery movement, which many Christians opposed.

Sometimes Darwin is portrayed as a devout Christian who allowed himself to drift away from his faith through his interest in the demon science. In his autobiography he wrote that his loss of faith was gradual and had caused him no distress. Yet he also describes how he struggled for many years to hold on to faith because of the "beautiful morality" of the New Testament.

Part of the difficulty in assessing Darwin's faith comes from his reticence to write or say anything that would encourage rampant atheism, since he saw that this would be detrimental to society. He was also unwilling to cause hurt to those friends and family members (including his wife Emma) who were devout Christians. His autobiography, in which he gave a frank account of his view of religion, was written for his family rather than for publication.

My impression is that Darwin began life with a conventional understanding of Christianity. He thought deeply and honestly about the challenges to his beliefs, and expressed his doubts graciously, without vehemence. However, he lacked both the theological skills and the personal conviction that might have helped him to hold on to faith. He came from a family with a background of scepticism. Many of his peers shared a perception that Christianity was good for the morals of the masses, but was not to be taken too seriously at a personal level. Although he experienced feelings of awe and wonder, he had no sense of Christ's presence in his life. In the end, unsupported dogma met hard facts and lost the battle for a great mind.