Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my father, brother and almost all of my friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Darwin critiques the idea of eternal punishment in Christianity for non-believers.
In this quote, Charles Darwin expresses his profound discomfort with the implications of Christian doctrine, which posits that non-believers face eternal punishment. He reflects on the personal impact of this belief, as it condemns his loved ones, revealing a deep philosophical objection to a doctrine that seems to advocate for eternal suffering based on belief rather than moral conduct.
Themes
ChristianityBeliefPhilosophyPunishmentDoctrine
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about the morality of religious beliefs, this quote could support an argument against doctrines that promote eternal punishment.
More from Charles Darwin
All quotes →The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
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I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science....It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many flaw[s] & holes as sound parts.
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We cannot fathom the marvelous complexity of an organic being; but on the hypothesis here advanced this complexity is much increased. Each living creature must be looked at as a microcosm--a little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as the stars in heaven.
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I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.
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we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps
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