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The New Testament 119 The ninth book of Chronicles, called
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120 The Bible According to Einstein
Chapter II: Career Decision And so Darwin had to find a new vocation. Now at this time Darwin, like most Englishmen, was a firm believer in the doctrines of the Church. And in the year of 1827, Darwin entered Christ’s College, at the University of Cambridge. There he studied divinity and the word of God. And so Darwin prepared himself to be a minister. But Darwin spent much time hunting animals and shooting birds. And he went riding and socializing with his friends.
____________________ 102 A third smaller mast was at the stern, and there was a bowsprit. |
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Chapter III: The Voyage of the Beagle In the name of Nature, the compassionate, the merciful. And the Beagle headed south. And while waiting to reach the volcanic island of Tenerife of the Canary Islands, Darwin read about the latest theory of geology.103 Now this new theory spoke of how the face of Earth had changed slowly over periods of time volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, erosion by wind and water, the re-distribution of sand, earth and sediments by streams and rivers all these natural forces affected landscape shape. Thus the surface of the Earth was susceptible to change, a change that was continual and gradual. And this new view was different from earlier ideas, which said that God-like and dramatic short-lived events had raised mountains, sunk land or created world-wide floods like Noah’s flood. Now few people, including scientists and religious thinkers, believed in the new view. And likewise Darwin was disturbed by it, for he had read the Holy Bible and knew what it had said.
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103 An important book, which had considerable influence on Darwin, was the Principles of Geology by Charles Lycell, published in 1830. |
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And the Beagle visited the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego106 off the southern tip of South America. And Darwin saw the forests of snow-tipped mountains rising out of the Magellan Strait. And near the seas and among the trees were Yahgan Indians, who were, in Darwin’s words, poor and naked natives who fished and gathered shells in leaky boats in order to maintain a miserable existence.107
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106 In Spanish, this name means "island of fire." The name was provided by Magellan – when he "discovered" the island at night, Indian bonfires were seen everywhere. |
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And it came to pass that an earthquake struck in Chile. And he saw the land rise up a couple of meters right before his eyes. And as the ground shook terribly, it shook Darwin physically, mentally and emotionally. And when the ground quivered, it seemed to speak to him. And Darwin understood, for there was "wisdom" in the rumblings of the Earth. Thus this earthquake, the first that Darwin had experienced, provided him with insight. And Darwin saw a little light. Now everywhere he went, he collected specimens. And all the time in notebooks did he ink in words his findings. And months of observation sharpened his sense of seeing. And months of writing sharpened his hand at writing. And through all of this activity, his ability to gather facts advanced.
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110 The word galápagos is an old Spanish word for giant land tortoise. This tortoise is thought to have the longest life-span of any creature on Earth. |
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Now Tahiti was a scenic and seductive island with jagged mountains on two eroded volcanic cones had Tahiti long ago been built. And Darwin saw how swift streams drained the waters, when heavy rains did fall. How exotic was Tahiti! It was full of tropical fruit trees, and was fringed by coral reefs and large lagoons. And Darwin saw beautiful bare-breasted women. Now the natives were organized in large families headed by a tribal chief who used magic, enforced taboos, engaged in rituals and worshipped many gods. And in the warm attractive climate, Darwin ate sweet fruits and coconuts. And Tahiti’s seductive charm tempted him to stay. But Darwin did not stay. Instead he continued with the Beagle to other South Sea Islands. And Darwin saw exotic fish such as the trigger fish113 and trunkfish.114 And while travelling the Pacific, the British sailors left in stations clocks to keep the time. But Darwin had on board time-pieces of a different kind fossils, broken clocks of ancient times.
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113 The triggerfish, which is a tropical marine fish found near reefs, is named as such because it possesses a fin spine which can be locked into place and only released by a second fin spine. |
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Next Darwin and the Beagle headed to the third of Earth’s great oceans, the Indian Ocean. And vertically flat butterfly fish and surgeon fish, as well as flying fish which could for short-distances glide through the air were seen swimming in the sea. And Darwin saw and studied them. And cape pigeons, fairy terns and gannets were flying through the ocean air. And Darwin saw and studied them. And during the quiet moments of the voyage, when he was being rocked by ocean waves, he thought and theorized about the things that he had seen.
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120 But there was another wind in the air, invisible and impalpable. Against this other wind, the Beagle sailed. |
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126 The Bible According to Einstein
Chapter IV: Darwin’s Renaissance: His Search for Truth Now Darwin handed over much of his collections to experts who could conduct analyses in further detail. And it had happened that Darwin had in South America discovered new forms of life, such as a new lizard, a new tanager,122 new finches, a new frog and a new rhea. And eventually these new species became known as Darwin’s lizard, Darwin’s tanager, Darwin’s finches, Darwin’s frog123 and Darwin’s rhea.
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122 A tanager is a small colorful songbird that feeds mainly on berries, insects and nectar. |
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As for his public life, he proceeded more conservatively: From his expedition notes, he wrote three books on the geology of South America. And these works brought him instant scientific fame: He was made a member of Geological Society of London. And three years later he was elected to the Royal Society of London for Promoting Natural Knowledge. And within the British scientific circle, Charles Darwin was a well-known name. Chapter V: Enlightenment And it came to pass that Darwin had a revelation. He realized why the terrestrial life of isolated islands such as the Galápagos was different from the life on nearby continents, while the amphibians and sea birds were essentially the same. And the reason was that life evolved, for if life did evolve, then life in geologically distinct regions would develop different features. And so terrestrial life on the Galápagos Archipelago was different from the terrestrial life of South America. But amphibians and sea birds, which could "bridge" the seas between the islands and the continent, would populate them both. And that was why these life forms were the same. And so it came to pass that Darwin did develop evidence for evolution. And the more he scrutinized his data and his notes, the more convinced did he become in evolution the kingdom of the animal was not immutable; it changed. This time Darwin saw a greater light. And it came to pass that Darwin thought of God. And he reread the Holy Bible’s Book of Genesis. And he was verily disturbed, for, although his mind supported evolution, evolution was, for him, an invasion of his Faith. And during such moments, when Darwin thought of God and evolution, it seemed to him as though a knife thrust through his heart. And it came to pass that a certain sickness fell upon Charles Darwin. All over did he feel a body weakness. And this illness would remain in Darwin almost to the end of Darwin’s life. |
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Now it happened that he read a work by Thomas Malthus on population growth. And in the essay it was argued that populations exponentially increased. And a population would explode in number, save for the food supply, which was but limited. "Would this not create a certain competition even within a single species," thought Darwin, "for at some point there would be a struggle for the food." Thus each member of a species would battle others for the food. And those members that were stronger or better adapted at obtaining food would so survive. And those members that were weaker or not well adapted at obtaining food would die. And so was born the concept of the struggle to survive. |
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Now theories of evolution had been around for many years: His grandfather had been one of the developers; the naturalist Larmark had speculated that evolution was even pertinent to man Larmark had drawn a ladder with a human at the top and a protozoon at the bottom. But at that time few people, including biologists, believed in evolution it was a speculation, a crazy thought with no foundation. Now Darwin provided two important things evidence for evolution and a mechanism by which evolution could proceed. The evidence consisted of his specimens, his fossils and the data in his books. The mechanism was natural selection. And so was born a theory of evolution based on survival of the fittest.124 Upon a strong rock did Darwin He would spend the rest of his life placing pillars on strong rock. Chapter VI: The Origin of Species Thus Darwin solved the puzzle of the origin of species. And in the year of 1842, he wrote an abstract of his thesis. And in the year of 1844, he wrote a longer draft. And Darwin’s health got worse: His heart had palpitations. And at times, he vomited. And he put aside the draft. Instead, he studied barnacles. And he spent the next decade collecting facts and organizing them into a treatise. Now in this work, he wanted to argue that different barnacles had been the product of a natural-selection process. But he was afraid that the public would denounce his work as heresy. And so he only hinted of the principle of natural selection.
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124 The detailed mechanism of how one generation passes to the next its "good traits" was unknown to Darwin. Today one knows it is done through genes. |
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130 The Bible According to Einstein
And one day in 1858, a terrible storm struck England. And lightning flashed uncontrollably and violently, and thunder seemed to shake the Darwin home in Downe. And inside the protection of his house and by a glowing fireplace, Darwin read an abstract of a paper by another naturalist named Alfred Wallace. Now the abstract summarized the very thesis Darwin had developed during twenty years of work. And it was as though a priest had spoken out and beckoned Darwin to speak out. Chapter VII: Darwin’s Later Years And so the flower shall bend its stem And some scientists immediately accepted Darwin’s work, for it was logical and based on Nature’s evidence. But a storm of protests swept the world of the intellectual, the theologian, the philosopher and even common people.126 Now clergymen condemned the book as heresy, for it was against the Biblical portrayal of creation. And theologians were unwilling to compromise and think of certain Biblical accounts as symbolism. And a great debate broke out among the naturalists, biologists and scientists.
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126 It is clear why such storms of protest between science and religion arise at times. There is a line that exists between the domain of Nature and the domain of God. People long ago drew the boundary by accident not at the true line but in the land of science. Over the years through the discoveries about the Universe, mankind has realized that certain ancient religious issues are not of the holy domain but of the natural domain. Thus as time has progressed, the boundary, which man has drawn, has shifted toward the true line. Thus science has moved into areas once thought to be spiritual. The examples are many: the moments just after the creation of the Universe; the origin of the stars, the Sun and Earth; the origin of life; the development and evolution of plants and animals; the source of catastrophes; and how the Universe works through physics. But when science does advance over man’s "misdrawn" boundary, people of strong religious belief construe this to be an attack. At such times a battle between science and religion generally occurs. Certain scientists are called heretics and certain scientific theories are called heresy. Unfortunately, some people of religious faith can become disillusioned if the evidence becomes so overwhelming as to convince them that one of their particular religious convictions is not true.* Such disillusionment was the source of Darwin’s life-long illness. The disillusionment and battles between science and religion need not arise if one realizes the source of the problem: a "misdrawn" boundary. Thus science is the complement and not the opponent of religion. As argued in the Introduction, there are many similarities between science and religion. Perhaps science should be regarded as the "religion on the other side of the line." Someday man will draw the boundary where it should be drawn. And from that day onward, science and religion will walk hand in hand.
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Now after several months, most scientists supported The Origin of Species. But still a few opposed. And common people began to participate in the debates. Darwin was slowly gaining followers. |
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And as time went by, a larger fraction of the public did believe in evolution. And eventually Darwin’s ideas were generally accepted. And no longer did scientists, philosophers and laymen see the world as fixed and as immutable. And questions arose as to whether there existed in the living world a great design. And as time went by, the controversy of the origin of species diminished and almost died. But the conflict between science and religion concerning evolution would continue throughout Darwin’s life. |
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And with such arguments and evidence, Darwin fortified his temple. They have no eyes but they see light. And it cannot be denied that Darwin’s life’s observations also shed some light. |
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