RI>I failed to mention in my first question, regarding Darwin's being a
RI>graduate of Christ College, Oxford. What I wanted to induce discussion
RI>on is that he graduated with a B.A. in theology. That, to me, is
RI>significant, if we are to understand this man's premise.
RI>Richard
Darwin wrote to Dr. Asa Gray on July 20, 1856...
"Either species have been independently created, or they have descended
from other species, like varieties from one species. I think it can be
shown to be probable that man gets his most distinct varieties by
preserving such as arise best worth keeping and destroying the others,
but I should fill a quire if I were to go on. To be brief I ASSUME that
species arise like our domestic varieties with MUCH extinction"
(emphasis added to show premise)
and
"For to my mind to say the species were created so and so is no
scientific explanation but a prescient way of saying it is so and so."
By 1856 Darwin had rejected his faith, and his premise, his assumption,
was that God did not create but that species arise from prior species
with much extinction. His degree from Christ's College was moot by that
time.
Darwin's evolution was built on a fundamantal assumption that he could
not prove. That assumption continues to this day even though his theory
has been replaced by new explanations.
Some call this brilliant.
Paul Durham
to: IN:richardn@southconn.com
cc: IN:evolution@calvin.edu