believe in those ancient mythological characters? Such a condition was incredible, and so Christianity as well as Judaism went by the board.
"By further reflecting," says Darwin in his autobiography, "that the clearest evidence would be requisite to make any sane man believe in the miracles by which Christianity is supported—and that the more we know of the fixed laws of nature the more incredible do miracles become—that the men at that time were ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible by us—that the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneously with the events—that they differ in many important details, far too important, as it seemed to me, to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies of eye-witnesses;[1] by such reflections as these, which I give not as having the least novelty or value, but as they influenced me, I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation. The fact that many false religions have spread over large portions of the earth like wild-fire had some weight with me.
"But I was very unwilling to give up my belief; I feel sure of this, for I can well re-
- ↑ It is interesting to note how the later researches in this field have proved that the gospels were not written in Jesus' time. On the other hand, the most recent studies seem to have established the fact that Jesus (probably named Joshua) did live,—which appears to be questioned by Darwin in the next paragraph. The best discussion of this problem is to be found in Professor Case's book, The Historicity of Jesus, published by the University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
