“I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.”
(Isaiah 44:6)
From reliable testimony, it may be assumed that Charles Darwin returned to the faith of his early manhood.
Lady Hope visited him one afternoon in England. He was almost bedridden for some months before he died. And sitting up in bed, he held an open Bible. “What are you reading?” asked Lady Hope. “The Royal Book, I call it. Isn’t it grand?” Darwin answered. Lady Hope mentioned about creation and the early chapters of Genesis. Darwin seemed greatly distressed and a look of agony came over his face as he said: “I was a young man with unformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything, and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion out of them.”
Then he added: “I have a summerhouse in the garden. I want you to speak to the people there tomorrow afternoon.” “What shall I speak about?” Lady Hope asked. “Christ Jesus,” he replied in a clear emphatic voice, adding in a lower tone, “and His salvation. Is not that the best theme? And then I want you to sing some hymns with them.” Then he added in farewell: “If you take the meeting at three o’clock, this window will be open and you will know that I am joining in with the singing.” —C. W. Hale Amos in The Bible Friend[i]
Ponderings...
How has the bigness of God impacted you this week?
“Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensible earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret, and holy, and fleet. There is nothing to be done about it, but ignore it, or see it.”
(Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek)
“For astronomy is not only pleasant, but also useful to be known; it cannot be denied that this art unfolds the admirable wisdom of God.”
John Calvin 1509-1564
(French theologian and reformer)
[i] T an, P. L. 1996, c1979.
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