ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the central religious beliefs of Charles Darwin. In particular, it presents evidence from the primary historical literature dealing with his theological reflections on evolutionary theory. After a failed attempt at studying medicine in Edinburgh and upon the insistence of his father, Darwin enrolled in theology at Christ's College, Cambridge University, in 1828. More specifically, Darwin's view of nature was steeped in the categories of the British naturalist–theologian William Paley. Darwin set foot on English soil after his five-year voyage around the world on 2 October 1836. Though Darwin rejected the personal God of Christianity, he remained a firm believer in a Creator. Finally, during his second intense period of theological reflection, Darwin wrestled with the question of Divine sovereignty over world. Darwin deals directly with the classic arguments both for and against God's existence, and examines these in the light of evolutionary theory.
