Charles and Emma

I was completely unaware that Charles Darwin even gave Creationism a second thought. I knew nothing about his personal life other than his theory on natural selection. I learned a great deal about this in high school, and as an undergraduate obtaining my licensure to teach science to middle school students. However, they failed to mention that Charles was brought up in a Christian home, and that his wife was very religious, and that he spent the majority of his life going back and forth between what everyone believed to be true about the Bible and his theory. I was also surprised to learn that Charles and his family were so sickly their whole lives. Because of this, and the family's terrible loss (of children and other family members) throughout the years, this story just struck me as very depressing. While Charles made many accomplishments and contributions to the scientific community, it was not without cost to his health. She suffered severe anxiety and worry over his projects. He was often physically ill and weak because of this anxiety. His children were "subjects" to be studied, rather than just his children. He was a man who could become completely lost in his thoughts, and this often took a toll on not only his personal relationships with his family, but also on his overall health. I was disappointed to learn that toward the end of the story, Emma's convictions regarding her faith weren't as strong as they were in the beginning. I loved the fact that even though she was a very religious person, she was able to keep an open mind and listen to Charles' theories and offer her support with editing and revisions on his work.

Personally, I don't believe that the Bible is meant to be interpreted literally. I, like Charles, believe it to be allegorical. However, I do believe that there is a supreme Being simply because of the cosmological argument (design implies a designer) and I feel that Charles didn't give this argument enough thought. I don't understand why he was so dismissive of a supreme power. Sure, maybe only the strongest of a species survive and evolve, but wouldn't a higher power have to be involved in that original design, not only of species of animals and plants, but also in the design of the entire universe?