THE WILBERFORCE DEBATE
The debate between Thomas Huxley and Oxford bishop Samuel Wilberforce in 1860 was probably the best known debate over evolution. Hundreds of people attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting at Oxford University to hear the discussion on Charles Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species.
Coached by Richard Owen, Anglican Bishop Samuel Wilberforce was there to fight against Darwin’s evolution theory. Wilberforce was also known as “Soapy Sam” for his slipperiness in religious arguments. Darwin was chronically ill and was unable to attend the meeting, so Thomas Huxley was in attendance to defend Darwin’s theory.
After the preliminaries of the meeting, Wilberforce took the podium and systematically assaulted Darwin’s evolution theory. As he concluded, he turned to Huxley and asked him which side of his family was descended from an ape. Huxley spoke in defense of Darwin’s evolution theory, and when finished, he stated that he would rather be descended from a monkey than a man who introduced ridicule into a scientific discussion.
Clergy were outraged and the pro-evolution people shouted in support. The debate was a defining moment in the science-religion debate of that century.
Katheryn M. Auton
Joshua Withers
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