15. Darwin did criticize Christianity in his autobiography
Charles Darwin wrote an autobiography, which was published following his death. Prior to publication many of his comments regarding Christianity were excised by his widow and son, anxious to preserve his reputation and protect his legacy from further attacks. It was a futile effort. The comments removed were restored to the work in 1958. One read, “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 my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine”.
In 1915, as part of the evangelical movement to refute Darwinism and evolutionary science, a woman named Elizabeth Cotton (after marriage known as Lady Hope) claimed to have visited Darwin shortly before his death. Cotton claimed that Darwin expressed his regrets at having published the theory of natural selection, refuted it as false science, and converted to Christianity. Darwin’s family denied the story, which continued to be cited by religious opponents of evolution into the 21st century. In 1934 Darwin’s last surviving child, his son Leonard, called Cotton’s story “purely fictitious”, though it continues to be repeated among creationists.
