Have you heard the story of Charles Darwin’s deathbed conversion?
In his final months, he was visited at home by a Lady Hope, who later described the encounter. One summer afternoon at his home, restricted to his bedroom by ill health, he declared his faith in Jesus and confessed of his theory: ‘I was a young man with unformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions … People made a religion of them’. Therefore, preachers will tell us, we should share Darwin’s mature opinion of his unformed ideas, reject evolution and embrace Christ.
Urban legend
It’s a great story, if only it were true. It has become one of many Christian ‘urban legends’ that do the rounds in popular sermons and books. It has been retold so many times that it has passed into Christian folklore. It reminds me of the often told explanation of the ‘eye of the needle’. We are assured that Jesus never intended this to refer to a literal needle, but rather to a smaller entrance in a larger city gate allowing the passage of unburdened camels late at night. These stories are not true, but are so appealing and told so often that they almost sound like Scripture!
So what of Darwin’s death bed conversion? Disentangling the facts from the fiction is almost impossible. Its origins are traced to a 1915 letter written by Lady Hope to a newspaper. Her recollections need not imply anything like a religious conversion on Darwin’s part. As far as we know, Darwin remained agnostic to the end. But what truth is there in the story? James Moore, a foremost biographer of Darwin, has researched the anecdote in great detail and his conclusions are probably as much as we will ever know. The Lady Hope of the letter was an itinerant social worker and evangelist who probably did visit Darwin at his home during the last months of his life, while she was involved in outreach work in his village. Her recollections are ambiguous at best and possibly exaggerated, but there was a genuine engagement between Darwin and these itinerant evangelists.
Help for drunkards
During the harvest, labourers would arrive from around the country looking for seasonal work. They found employment in the harvest and they were paid, but generally the money was then lost in drinking, leaving families in poverty at home. Darwin was concerned for this and engaged in humanitarian efforts to help these men. The efforts were a failure. But Darwin was impressed with the work of the evangelists. Writing to a ‘tent preacher’, who had asked for financial assistance, he commented: ‘We have never been able to reclaim a drunkard, but through your services I do not know that there is one drunkard left in the village’ (James Moore, The Darwin Legend, p.47).
Power of the gospel
Now here is an anecdote of real apologetic value. We are all concerned for the plight of the poor and bringing purpose to life. Can Darwinian humanitarianism or secular humanism do it? Consider the power of the gospel to change lives and transform societies. Even the most obstinate atheist cannot ignore it. A more gentle agnostic like Darwin could see it clearly.
Christianity is true, and Christianity works. That is a powerful combination to appeal to all people. We present our case for Christianity best with coherent evidence and honest anecdotes. It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. In fact, it is like getting a camel through the eye of a needle. That isn’t just really hard, like squeezing through a small city gate, that’s impossible. But, Jesus said, with God all things are possible. The power of a truthful message and a loving witness may be all we need to demolish strongholds of unbelief. There is no need for embellishment; the truth can look after itself!
Chris Sinkinson lectures in apologetics at Moorlands College, Christchurch, Dorset, and is pastor of Alderholt Evangelical Church.
