Evolution and the Fall: The Bishop Paddock Lectures 1909–1910

by Francis J. Hall

Publisher:

Longman

, 1910

Overview

Evolution and the Fall contains lectures delivered on the centennial of Darwin’s birthday and the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Origin of Species. In these lectures, Hall proposes an intelligent discussion of the bearing of evolutionary theory upon Christian doctrine, and offers new possibilities for the broader relationship between science and theology.

Hall argues that neither evolution in general, nor any specific scientific theory of evolution can wholly explain the doctrine of original sin. At the same time, he begs Christians not to abandon the enterprise of scientific inquiry, regardless of their opposition to Darwin. Hall shows that one may frankly and fully accept Darwin’s theory—and other scientific hypotheses—without compromising Christian belief, and doing so, in fact, fortifies both theological understanding and scientific inquiry.

Hall’s lectures anticipate many of the scientific and theological flashpoints in the century which followed. Arguments both for and against evolution in Christian circles are indebted to Hall’s careful analysis of evolution in the early days or Darwinism, and helped set the tone for the dialogue between theology and science throughout the twentieth century.

Praise for the Print Edition

It would be good if all theologians who write on the evolutionary hypothesis manifested the same knowledge and appreciation of its strong and weak points.

—Christian World

Product Details

• Title: Evolution and the Fall: The Bishop Paddock Lectures 1909–1910
• Author: Francis Joseph Hall
• Series: Francis J. Hall Theology Collection
• Publisher: The Young Churchman Co.
• Publication Date: 1910
• Pages: 225

About Francis J. Hall

Francis Joseph Hall was a prominent Episcopal theologian in America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was born in 1857 in Ashtabula, Ohio, and graduated from Racine College in 1882. He was ordained in 1886 and became professor of dogmatic theology at Western Seminary in Chicago, where he remained until 1913. Hall died in 1933.