(3) The theory: natural selection (pages 55-58)
(4) The tree of life (pages 59-65)
Reading Origin of Species – 2
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Monthly Archives: February 2015
Reading Origin of Species – 3
Reading Origin of Species – 4
(7) Across space (pages 82-93)
By the 15th century, European explorers were accumulating more and more knowledge of the earth’s flora and fauna. As their discoveries increased, naturalists speculated that there might be important ‘centers of special creation’ around the globe. But in Origin Darwin argues that natural selection gives a more plausible explanation of the distribution of life.
Looking at the distribution of animals and plants around the globe, Darwin observes major patterns. These patterns cry out for explanation:
Reading Origin of Species – 5
(8) Mutual affinities (pages 93-95)
(9) “There is grandeur in this view of life” (pages 95-99)
Origin’s Chapter 14 probes the ‘mutual affinities of organic beings’ by focusing on various branches of biology (as practiced in Darwin’s day). Origin’s overarching argument is that the problems these disciplines were encountering could be addressed by his theory of descent with modification.
Lectio Divina for Groups
Lectio Divina, or ‘Holy Reading’, is an ancient monastic practice – a slow, meditative way of prayerfully reading a passage from Holy Scripture.
When a group comes together for Lectio Divina, greet each other warmly and then find comfortable places to sit. Choose one member of the group to be leader or time-keeper. Then let the silence of the Spirit settle upon you during the opening (centering) prayer.
Praying with Biblical Images
Poetic Biblical Images *
Lectio Divina, or ‘Holy Reading’, is an ancient monastic practice – a slow, meditative way of prayerfully reading a passage from Holy Scripture.
(1) Lectio: Read the passage slowly and quietly. Give it time to open within you.
(2) Meditatio: Reflect upon what the passage says to you.
(3) Oratio: Respond by writing down whatever has entered your spirit. When you are finished, circle a word or phrase that jumps out from what you have written.
(4) Contemplatio: Rest with your word or phrase, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to your spirit.
The discussion continues (1)
Notes from our discussion, February 5
From Carol McPhee:
Darwin’s books inspired light verse as well as serious reflections on the place of humans in the universe.
In the nineteenth century, Constance Naden, a brilliant student of science who had published several articles on materialism and evolution in the Journal of Science and Knowledge, had some fun with Darwin’s ideas on the female’s part in natural selection. Her poem “Natural Selection” is in the voice of a young geologist who attempts to woo his beloved with his fossil and rock collections. He loses her to a young man who can dance and sing better than he.
http://www.bartleby.com/293/389.html
The discussion continues (2)
Notes from our discussion, February 5 – from Rob Ross:
Molecular tree of life
Recent science has documented Darwin’s tree of life (Beasts, p. 59) in amazing detail. Here are four among the thousands of “tree of life” diagrams – created by scientists looking at differences in the amino acid sequence of proteins, or at differences in the nucleotide sequence of DNA.
Tree of all life
Click on the slide to enlarge it
The discussion continues (3)
“How does being a scientist affect your religious belief?”
At the end of Thursday’s discussion, Bob Pelfrey asked this question of John Horsley and Rob Ross.
Evolution of the Theory – 1
Some notes on the first half of Chapter 4, Evolution of the Theory…
The center holds
Darwin’s theory has held through many empirical testings, and today there is no reasonable scientific conflict about the theory. Scientists have noted key features that characterize evolution as a whole: kinship; novelty; cumulative body relationships – and a propensity, over time, to produce beings of ever more complicated structures by elaborating on simpler structures that already exist.
Misuse of the theory
But before long, Darwin’s theory became a resource for political and social causes, whose advocates tried to turn a biological theory into a script for human society. The fatal flaw lay in transferring a scientific theory about a biological process (that happens without conscious intent) to the arena of human interaction (where causes are intentional, willful, and complex.)