What is Darwinism?
1844
Published in 1844, 'What is Darwinism?' by Charles Hodge critically examines Darwin's theory of evolution and its implications for the existence of God and the origins of life. Hodge emphasizes the need for a clear definition of Darwinism before assessing its merits, situating it within the broader discourse on the origins of the universe, including Scriptural creation and pantheism. This work is notable for its exploration of the tension between scientific theories and traditional religious beliefs.
Editions
X-Ray
“We recently heard Prof. Joseph Henry, in a brief address, say substantially: "If I take brass, glass, and other materials, and fuse them, the product is a slag. This is what physical laws do. If I take those same materials, and form them into a telescope, that is what mind does." This is the whole question in a nutshell. That design implies an intelligent designer, is a self evident truth. Every man believes it; and no man can practically disbelieve it. Even those naturalists who theoretically deny it, if they find in a cave so simple a thing as a flint arrow-head, are as sure that it was made by a man as they are of their own existence. And yet they want us to believe that an eagle's eye is the product of blind natural causes. No combination of physical forces ever made a ship or a locomotive. It may, indeed, be said that they are dead matter, whereas plants and animals live. But what is life but one form of the organizing efficiency of God?””
— Charles Hodge
“A philosophy which cannot be received until men cease to believe in their own existence, must be in extremis. [What is Darwinism (New York, 1874), p. 17.]””
— Charles Hodge
