Evolution vs Christianity

In the midst of a circus-like atmosphere on July 10, 1925, a young science teacher named John Scopes went on trial for teaching evolution in a Tennessee classroom. Four months earlier a law had been passed that made it a misdemeanor offense to “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” When naturalist Charles Darwin announced his theory of evolution and that humans and monkeys descended from a common ancestor (not that humans descended from monkeys, as was, and still is, commonly mistaken, see: The Many Myths Surrounding Charles Darwin) it sent shockwaves through the worlds of science and religion. Scientists saw the theory of evolution as an exciting door to new frontiers in understanding human genetics and biology, while some Christians saw it as a threat to the Bible and everything they believed in. However, again contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t evolution vs. creation from the beginning. In fact, while certainly the likes of the Church of England and certain other religious groups had issues with Darwin’s theories, largely centered around the timetables involved (millions of years, rather than less than about 6,000 years), this type of religious contention was hardly the norm initially, with the “creation vs. evolution” battle being more of a relatively modern widespread phenomenon. Host: Simon Whistler Producer: Samuel Avila