The Missing Link: A Symposium on Darwin's Creation-Evolution Solution

This edited volume examines Charles Darwin's attempted reconciliation of evolutionary theory with theological questions about creation and design. Varghese assembles contributions that critically assess Darwin's proposed "middle way" between pure materialism and traditional theism, exploring whether his solution successfully bridges the explanatory gap between natural processes and ultimate origins.

The symposium addresses Darwin's central dilemma: how to account for the appearance of design in nature while maintaining scientific naturalism. Contributors analyze Darwin's various strategies for preserving some notion of divine action within an evolutionary framework, including his concept of divinely instituted laws governing variation and selection. The volume scrutinizes Darwin's correspondence with contemporaries like Asa Gray, where he wrestles with teleological questions and the problem of reconciling chance variations with purposeful outcomes.

Several chapters examine the philosophical coherence of Darwin's position, questioning whether his attempted synthesis ultimately collapses into either deism or functional atheism. The contributors probe Darwin's reluctance to embrace either pure materialism or orthodox theism, analyzing how this intellectual tension shaped both his scientific writings and personal reflections. The volume pays particular attention to Darwin's treatment of human consciousness and moral sense, areas where purely naturalistic explanations seemed most strained.

The work engages contemporary debates about intelligent design and theistic evolution, using Darwin's own struggles as a lens for examining current attempts to harmonize evolution with religious belief. Contributors assess whether Darwin's "missing link" between creation and evolution represents a viable philosophical position or an unstable compromise. The volume includes critical perspectives on how Darwin's solution has been appropriated by various camps in modern science-religion dialogue.

Varghese's collection contributes to scholarship by demonstrating that the creation-evolution debate cannot be reduced to simple binary oppositions. The symposium reveals how Darwin himself recognized the inadequacy of purely mechanistic explanations while remaining skeptical of traditional natural theology. By examining Darwin's nuanced position and its internal tensions, the volume challenges both religious critics who dismiss evolution and naturalists who claim Darwin definitively solved the design problem. The work suggests that Darwin's unresolved questions about teleology and ultimate causation remain philosophically significant, indicating that the "missing link" between scientific description and metaphysical explanation continues to elude definitive resolution.