The American Scholar

THE CHOICE IS OURS

In December 1866, mathematician Mary Boole wrote to Charles Darwin:

Do you consider the holding of your Theory of Natural Selection, in its fullest & most unreserved sense, to be inconsistent,—I do not say with any particular scheme of Theological doctrine,—but with the following belief, viz: That knowledge is given to man by the direct Inspiration of the Spirit of God. That God is a personal and Infinitely good Being. That the effect of the action of the Spirit of God on the brain of man is especially a moral effect.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The American Scholar

The American Scholar8 min read
Adventures With Jean
I lived in New York City when it was more violent and dangerous than it is now. Needle Park was still a place where people were killed and women were raped, and the Lower East Side was a place where you wanted to be careful. Mobsters shot each other
The American Scholar12 min read
Reborn In The City Of Light
ROSANNA WARREN's most recent books are So Forth and Max Jacob: A Life in Art and Letters. In 1935, Berenice Abbott was photographing scenes for her monumental collection Changing New York when a male bureaucrat at the Federal Art Project admonished h
The American Scholar4 min readGender Studies
For Want Of Touch
“You're writing a history of sex? The whole of it?” Rebecca L. Davis, a professor of history at the University of Delaware, was asked several times in recent years. Her response is Fierce Desires, a chronicle of how cultural forces have shaped Americ

Related Books & Audiobooks