Presented by
Blake Brown
One of the most famous people in the world is Charles Darwin. And one of the most famous books ever written was his volume, The Origin of Species, which helped make belief in evolution popular. By the time Darwin wrote that book in 1859, he did not believe in God. But earlier in his life he did.
Darwin had married a young woman by the name of Emma Wedgwood who was a very strong believer in both God and Christianity. However, something happened during their marriage that caused Mr. Darwin to become angry at God and stop believing in Him. Charles and Emma had several children—both boys and girls. Their oldest daughter was a sweet little girl by the name of Annie. As is often the case, because she was the oldest girl in the family Annie was especially close to her father.
In 1850, however, Annie became very sick. Doctors gave her
all kinds of medicines, and members of her family looked after her on a daily
basis. Friends helped, too. But on April 23, 1851, Annie died at the tender age
of only ten years old. As you can imagine, Charles and Emma Darwin were
terribly sad. But because Mrs. Darwin was a devout believer in God and the
Bible, she was able to cope with Annie’s death. Mrs. Darwin firmly believed
that one day she would see Annie in heaven because she knew that in Matthew
18:3 Jesus had taught, “Assuredly,
I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will
by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Young children are in a “safe” condition
before God, and if they die, they one day will get to be in heaven with God and
Jesus.
Charles Darwin, however, had been studying evolution for a long time, and he already was having serious doubts about God’s existence. He had come to the conclusion that evolution could explain everything, and that God was not needed. When Annie died, Mr. Darwin became very angry, and blamed God for her sickness and death. As a result, he made up his mind not to believe in God any more.
Perhaps you have read a book that is a called a “biography”—which is a book that explains someone’s life and tells about the things that they did while they were alive. There have been many biographies written about Charles Darwin because he is so famous. In one of those books, the authors wrote that Annie’s death was “the end of the road” for Darwin’s hopes. They said that after seeing Annie die, “Darwin could not believe the way Emma believed—nor what she believed. Annie’s cruel death destroyed Charles’s belief in a moral, just universe and in Christianity. Charles now took his stand as an unbeliever.”
Eight years after Annie died, Charles Darwin authored The Origin of Species—a book that has caused millions of people to give up their belief in God just like Charles Darwin did. Isn’t all of this sad? Darwin blamed God for something that wasn’t even God’s fault. When Darwin stopped believing in God, he lost all hope of ever getting to see Annie again in heaven. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
When life doesn’t seem fair, or when bad things happen, we should remember Charles Darwin and how he gave up his faith in God. We also should make up our minds not to be like him because we know from God’s Word that “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28). If we as Christians will love and obey God, then one day we will be with Him and His Son in heaven. Jesus said, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). That’s what I want—to live in heaven one day with my mom and dad. I have a hunch that’s what little Annie wanted, too.