Darwin's God: Evolution and the Problem of Evil

About this book

In Darwins God biophysicist Cornelius Hunter 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 Darwins grappling with questions about God reality and the nature of the universe. Ultimately Hunter shows how Darwins 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 todays theory of evolution continues to rely on Darwins metaphysics. Contemporary Darwinists such as Kenneth Miller Mark Ridley Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould rely on Darwins 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.