From the Preface. The purpose of a preface is twofold. First, to disarm, in advance, the criticism of the reader - not to mention the reviewer. Second, to explain what the author would have done - if he could. To the former end I wish simply to say that it is in no sense the purpose of this little volume to furnish a system of ethical or religious thought, or the germ of a new religion, as perhaps its title might lead some to infer, least of all to enunciate truths which are original with, or peculiar to its author. It ...
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From the Preface. The purpose of a preface is twofold. First, to disarm, in advance, the criticism of the reader - not to mention the reviewer. Second, to explain what the author would have done - if he could. To the former end I wish simply to say that it is in no sense the purpose of this little volume to furnish a system of ethical or religious thought, or the germ of a new religion, as perhaps its title might lead some to infer, least of all to enunciate truths which are original with, or peculiar to its author. It is merely an attempt to get a bird's-eye view of a few of the influences affecting human hope and human happiness from the standpoint of that view of and attitude towards the universe which is best expressed by the term Darwinism. This term is not used of course in the narrow sense of the personal views of Charles Darwin in contrast with those of other evolutionists, be they his predecessors or his successors, but simply as typifying the evolutionary movement and its wonderful consequences by the name of its greatest thinker and ablest champion, who first made the theory of evolution credible or even thinkable. Its effort is to show that this attitude possesses a broad and secure basis for courage and happiness in the present and hope for the future. In other words, that its faith is as steadfast, its "consolations" as great, and its spirit of worship as profound and as powerful as those of revealed religion. That the message of the gospel according to Darwin, is in truth "good news," "glad tidings; that the natural is as wonderful, as beautiful, as divine, as the supernatural. It is no longer necessary to limit our worship to the mysterious. No conception of Heaven, which has ever been formed, represents as great an improvement upon the existing state of affairs as has occurred every two thousand years in the actual history of the race. A triumphal, upward march, unbroken for fifty million of years, and which still continues, in which we are keeping step, every day, is at least as worthy of our gratitude, our worship, our trust, as anything supernaturalism has to offer. Far from destroying or antagonizing the religious instinct, the spirit of worship, Darwinism broadens and quickens it. But while recognizing its wonderful value, and according it a high rank in the parliament of instincts, it absolutely declines to recognize it as perpetual dictator. Religion is but one of several great influences which make up human life and determine human conduct. Like any other instinct, indulged in the proper place, it is beneficent, ennobling in its results; but carried into spheres where it has no authority, it becomes injurious and degrading. Darwinism has no quarrel with religion, only with its excesses.
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Add this copy of The Gospel According to Darwin to cart. $66.74, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2019 by Wentworth Press.
Add this copy of The Gospel According to Darwin to cart. $113.00, very good condition, Sold by Common Crow Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1898 by The Open Court Publishing Company.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. First edition, 1898. Cloth hardcover with gilt title on the spine and pictorial gilt decoration on front cover, illustrated, 241 pp., clean unmarked text, Very Good copy, soiling and age-toning to the pages and the page-edges, some soiling to the book's covers, rubbing and wear to the edges of the book's covers including minor fraying or loss at the tips, no dust jacket. Uncommon.
