A Strange Breed

I don't recall reading anything about the life of Charles Darwin in either my high school or college biology classes, other than his five year trip around the world on the HMS Beagle. I knew he was a great naturalist and proponent of evolution, but I didn't know much else. So when I saw this month's feature article in Tabletalk magazine on the life of Charles Darwin, my curiosity was piqued. Not only was Darwin a naturalist, he was also a philosopher and theologian. He even held a degree in theology from Cambridge, although his motives for that degree were rather suspect. The possibility of church ministry in a rural pastorate was seen as an opportunity "to wander the fields for his love of nature." But what I really found interesting in the article were the facts about his marriage, which he embraced because "a woman provides better companionship than a dog." He married his cousin, Emma Wedgewood, from the wealthy Wedgewood pottery family. I guess they did things differently back then. Charles and Emma had a mixed marriage - he being an agnostic and she a believer in Christ - but they were lovingly devoted to one another. Naturally, Emma was burdened for her husband's soul. The author of the article wrote, "Charles kept some [agnostic] doubts to himself and shared others, and Emma was troubled, asking him to read John 13. They settled down in London, later moving to a country estate." How can the author drop that line about John 13 and move on without further explanation? What is in John 13 that Emma wanted Charles to read? Was it the account of Jesus washing the disciples' feet, providing the example of humble service? Was it the identification of Judas as Jesus' betrayer at the Last Supper? Or was it Jesus' instruction to his disciples about his imminent death and glorification on the cross? One can only speculate, but the article does indicate that Emma longed for Charles to realize "that there was more to life than what he could observe empirically." As his agnosticism and life struggles continued, Emma remained faithful to live out her Christian witness by ministering to him and praying for him. She truly was a gift to him from the God he refused to acknowledge.

~quotes taken from "On the Origin and Descent of Charles Darwin" by Russ Pulliam