ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates Charles Darwin’s ideas concerning religion and ask whether his theory lends any support to the teleological argument. In the 1990s, there was an upswing in a biological theory which bases itself on the argument for design. The argument for design, also known as the teleological argument, finds reasons for the existence of God in the purposeful way the universe is ordered. Darwin was also a supporter of uniformitarianism. Darwin was attracted to the lifestyle of a country parson, but was unsure whether he could publicly identify with all aspects of the Anglican faith. Darwin spent some time taking Greek lessons, preparatory to matriculating at Cambridge University. Concurrent with the research that would in time make Darwin the most famous naturalist of all time, he abandoned Christianity. In the Origin of Species, Darwin freely admits that an organ as complicated and perfect as the eye was difficult to conceive of as being the result of natural selection.
