Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them.
It is widely assumed that the development of modern science in the 18th and 19th centuries – particularly geology and biology – buried the primitive concept of a designed world. As Richard Dawkins put it, “After Darwin, we all should feel, deep in our bones, suspicious of the very idea of design.”
It is, perhaps, less widely known that the big thinkers in these fields did not share this conclusion.
The Scotsman James Hutton (1726-1797) is often called “the father of modern geology”, tracing today’s rocks to ancient processes over vast periods of time. He came up with the idea of the rock cycle: that rock is eroded but recycled through tectonic uplift – a concept fundamental to contemporary earth science.
In his book Time’s Arrow, Time’s Cycle, Stephen Jay Gould tells us what lay behind this idea. Hutton reasoned that since the world was designed for habitation, if rock is being washed into the seas, it must be being replaced somewhere (as indeed it is). Hutton wrote: “We perceive a fabric erected in wisdom, to obtain a purpose worthy of the power that is apparent in the production of it.”
A generation later came Charles Lyell (1797-1875). His book The Principles of Geology (1830-33) was one of the most influential of all books written in the nineteenth century, on any subject. He set out the key geological idea that the the past processes which gradually shaped the earth are all those we can observe at the present. His work was a key influence on Darwin.
The conclusion of his observations? “… in whatever direction we pursue our researches, whether in time or space, we discover everywhere the clear proofs of a Creative Intelligence, and of His foresight, wisdom and power.”
Then there is Darwin himself (1809-1882). In the conclusion of his 1859 book On the Origin of Species he writes: “Authors of the highest eminence seem to be fully satisfied with the view that each species has been independently created. To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the world should have been due to secondary causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual.” While he takes issue with people who believed each species created (as we do), what is perhaps less noticed is that he has not abandoned the idea of a Creator.
And there are many more. The quote on this post, from Psalm 111, is written in Latin over the door of the Cavendish Laboratory in Free School Lane, here in Cambridge. It was put there by James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), who formulated the classical theory of electromagnetism. For him, science was an opportunity to study the Creator’s works.
On Saturday 15th November Professor Richard Buggs will be speaking at a men’s breakfast on the question “Did Darwin displace God?”. We will be eating in the very room Darwin used to have his breakfasts in. It will be a fascinating event – and instructive for any guests who believe science has indeed buried God.
