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Darwin's God

Name: Darwin's God
Author: Cornelius G. Hunter
ISBN: 9781587430114

by Hunter, Cornelius G.

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Overview

In Darwin's God, biophysicist Cornelius Hunter boldly argues that the theory of evolution, from its origins with Charles Darwin up to its present-day proponents, is motivated at bottom by theological concerns.

Behind the scientific story is the story of Charles Darwin's grappling with questions about God, reality, and the nature of the universe. Ultimately, Hunter shows how Darwin's inability to reconcile his understanding of a benevolent God with the cruelty, waste, and quandaries of nature led him to develop the theodicy called evolution.

Importantly, the tale Hunter has to tell is not merely historical. He demonstrates how today's theory of evolution continues to rely on Darwin's metaphysics.

Contemporary Darwinists such as Kenneth Miller, Mark Ridley, Niles Eldredge, and Stephen Jay Gould rely on Darwin's God to justify evolution as much as Darwin did. Ironically, we discover that the theory that supposedly made God unnecessary is predicated upon dearly held beliefs about the very nature of God.

About the Author, Cornelius G. Hunter

Cornelius G. Hunter was senior vice president of Seagull Technology, Inc., a high tech firm in Silicon Valley, and is currently completing a doctorate in biophysics at the University of Illinois. He lives in Mahomet, Illinois.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Biophysicist Hunter brings rare depth and originality to this analysis of an often-neglected stream of Darwin's thought, illuminating not only the original debates surrounding The Origin of Species, but also contemporary questions about evolution and religion. Hunter's main argument is that most interpreters of evolution have misjudged Darwin's metaphysical motives. Rather than an assault upon God's existence, evolution was for Darwin and many of his contemporaries a defense of God's goodness, a strategy for disassociating God from the often unsavory details of nature by introducing a blind process of natural selection. Hunter attributes the early enthusiasm for evolution to the pervasive but shallow "modern theology" of many educated Victorians, whose offense at the violence and inefficiency of nature was compounded by their expectation that God's dealings with the world must always be benevolent and clearly discernable as such. Still more fascinating is the way Hunter traces similar metaphysical arguments in evolutionary rhetoric from Darwin to the present day, suggesting that theological attitudes from the na ve summit of the "modern" era continue to color perceptions of evolution and creation, often to the detriment of both. This book falls outside the standard niches of the evolution-and-religion literature, and readers who strongly identify with either side of creation-evolution debates will find grounds for disagreeing with some of Hunter's assertions; but the cogency of his central argument should attract readers of both persuasions. (May) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.