People used to think that the universe was neatly laid out by God exactly the way it was destined to be laid out. The stars were crystal spheres pushed around in the heavens by angels and everyone found it to be comforting to think of the universe as such an ordered place. However, all of this changed when Darwin put forth his theory of evolution.
Darwin did not understand why his theory was thought of as anticlerical and shocking to so many people, but many scientists of the day thought that his theory was so heretical and offensive that it would poison the pure minds of the ladies and turn the world upside down. They were convinced that such a theory would boggle (as in confuse and turn people away from doing what was right) the minds of people everywhere and that it was a horrible thing to behold.
On June 30, 1860 the annual conference of the British Association for the Advancement of Science meet in Oxford. They were there to debate Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Unfortunately, Darwin was too ill to defend his theory in front of the counsel so his friend, Huxley, defended it for him. Huxley was faced with an angry and super-critical crowd. During the meeting a bishop called Bishop Samuel “Soapy Sam” Wilberforce asked Huxley on what side of his family are his ancestors apes. In response to this extremely rude question Huxley shocked the crowd by responding by saying that he would rather have an ape as a grandfather than be a man who uses his endowments, influence, and wealth, to bring ridicule into a grave scientific debate. He had said this in such an offensive way that many of the ladies in the crowed fainted and it was widely reported in the popular magazines of the day. I bet that was a sight to see. That bishop should not have been so judgmental and insulting too Huxley. After all, we, as Christians do not know everything and neither do scientists. Only God knows everything about how he created the universe and everything on it and the Bible can not be taken literally.
Finally, to go along with this interesting historical piece for your enjoyment, “Evolution”, by Ayumi:
and exciting lyrics about “Evolution” and how wonderful it is that we were able to meet:
Evolution
It’s true, isn’t it? It seems as though we’re headed for a new century. It’s miraculous: This is something you can only taste once. Let’s remember one more time. On the day we arrived on this Earth we were somehow happy, and somehow it hurt. We were crying wow yeah wow yeah wow wow yeah Reality is a traitor; it’s easy to misjudge things. So with your own two eyes please decide the worth of this place. Do it with your own standards. We’ve arrived in these times. But somehow things move on So somehow we’re standing here and we’re living through today. wow yeah wow yeah wow yeah We’ve arrived on this kind of world. Somehow I’m very happy somehow it hurts a lot. While crying at the top of my lungs: wow yeah wow yeah wow yeah I’ve arrived in these times. But I met you. I’ve arrived in this kind of world. So I was able to meet you. On the day we arrived on this Earth we were somehow happy, and somehow it hurt. We were crying wow yeah wow yeah wow wow yeah We’ve arrived in these times. But somehow things move on So somehow we’re standing here and we’re living through today. wow yeah wow yeah wow yeah