''Darwiniana: Essays and Reviews Pertaining to Darwinism'' is a collection of essays by botanist

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botany, botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' (1876) was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessaril ...

, first published in 1876. These widely read essays both defended the theory of evolution from the standpoint of botany and sought reconciliation with

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

by arguing

theistic evolution Theistic evolution (also known as theistic evolutionism or God-guided evolution), alternatively called evolutionary creationism, is a view that God acts and creates through laws of nature. Here, God is taken as the primary cause while natural cau ...

— that

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the Heredity, heritable traits characteristic of a population over generation ...

is not inconsistent with

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. Gray considered natural selection to be the cause of new species, which was itself caused by some inherent power imparted in the beginning by Godhead.

Notes

References

* * * Zirkle, Conway (8 May 1964). Review
"Darwiniana"
''Science'', Vol. 144, Issue 3619, pp. 724–725.

External sources

* Asa Gray (1876)
''Darwiniana; Essays and Reviews Pertaining to Darwinism''
*
Darwin and design: historical essay
Essay collections Philosophy of religion literature {{reli-philo-book-stub