Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Missionary Position
In "Darwin's Defense of Missionaries," published in USAToday, reporter Dan Vergano quotes the naturalist Charles Darwin as writing in 1836:
"The march of improvement, consequent on the introduction of Christianity, through the South Seas, probably stands by itself on the records of the world."
We don't doubt Vergano's citation, but we do doubt the conclusion drawn from it by cultural historian Mark Graham, that Darwin "supported Christian missionary work his entire adult life."
Graham's article in the Journal of Religious History, which is the basis for the USAToday report, is hidden behind a subscription barrier and RSR has not read any more of it than the abstract.
Even so, no convincing evidence underpinning the notion Darwin supported Christian missionary work "all his adult life" other than the 1836 quote is presented. And some of what Graham says about the "missionary" mission of the Beagle is, as noted in the article, just plain wrong.
RSR would not find it at all surprising if Emma Darwin had supported the work of Christian missionaries and Charles Darwin had not opposed or even facilitated it. He was, after all, a loving husband and exceptionally tolerant man.
To be convinced by Graham's broader assertion, however, we'd have to see much more evidence.
Still, if true, it would be another bit of contradictory evidence undermining the creationist caricature of the man who formulated the theory of evolution. Not that any evidence, of any kind, in any amount, would ever change their minds on this or any other subject.
"The march of improvement, consequent on the introduction of Christianity, through the South Seas, probably stands by itself on the records of the world."
We don't doubt Vergano's citation, but we do doubt the conclusion drawn from it by cultural historian Mark Graham, that Darwin "supported Christian missionary work his entire adult life."
Graham's article in the Journal of Religious History, which is the basis for the USAToday report, is hidden behind a subscription barrier and RSR has not read any more of it than the abstract.
Even so, no convincing evidence underpinning the notion Darwin supported Christian missionary work "all his adult life" other than the 1836 quote is presented. And some of what Graham says about the "missionary" mission of the Beagle is, as noted in the article, just plain wrong.
RSR would not find it at all surprising if Emma Darwin had supported the work of Christian missionaries and Charles Darwin had not opposed or even facilitated it. He was, after all, a loving husband and exceptionally tolerant man.
To be convinced by Graham's broader assertion, however, we'd have to see much more evidence.
Still, if true, it would be another bit of contradictory evidence undermining the creationist caricature of the man who formulated the theory of evolution. Not that any evidence, of any kind, in any amount, would ever change their minds on this or any other subject.
