To James Grant 11 March 1878
Summary
The strongest argument for the existence of God is the intuitive feeling that there must have been an intelligent beginner of the universe; "but then comes the doubt and difficulty whether such intuitions are trustworthy". CD is forced to leave the problem insoluble. "No man who does his duty has anything to fear, and may hope for whatever he earnestly desires."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Miller (James) Grant |
| Date: | 11 Mar 1878 |
| Classmark: | Sotheby’s, New York (dealers) (12 December 2017) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11416 |
From James Grant 6 March 1878
Summary
As a believer in the existence of God from the evidence of nature, he is somewhat staggered by CD’s and Tyndall’s books. Asks CD to tell him whether the doctrine of descent of man destroys the evidence of the existence of a God looked at through natural phenomena.
| Author: | James Miller (James) Grant |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Mar 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 89 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11404 |
From James Grant 16 March 1878
Summary
Thanks CD for his kind reply. JG does not feel he can rely on instinct or "intuition" in relation to existence of God. Is there no analogy between natural organisations and mechanical constructions to justify an intelligent first cause?
| Author: | James Miller (James) Grant |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Mar 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 90 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11428 |
| letter | (3) |
| Grant, James | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
| Grant, James | (1) |
| 1878 | (3) |
