Letter: Laws of nature and the question of faith

Sir: M. F. Perutz (Letters, 22 March) tells us that 'Charles Darwin's discrediting of the biblical story of creation did not prevent him from remaining a believing Christian'. Here are Darwin's own views on the subject:

. . . disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress, and have never since doubted for a single second that my conclusion was correct. 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. (The Autobiography of Charles Darwin 1809- 1882; London, 1958, p 87)

Your faithfully,

REDMOND O'HANLON

Oxford