The Decline in Faith
Since the end of the Second World War, academic researchers, historians, and journalists have examined the main reasons for the decline in religious faith in Victorian Britain. However, the investigation continues to be studied to this day, still unclear what caused its secularization (Kent 1997, 110). With countless proposed theories, others deny a process of unbelief, but rather a growth in Christian followers.
19th century Britain was revolutionary because of the emergence of innovative freethinkers and scientists that shaped society. Besides, many believe this century to be the beginning of a decline in religious faith. This section studies the roots for this transition from a sociological point of view.
Herbert Schlossberg offers a rigorous study on the debate of religion in the Victorian Age and the reasons for its debacle. Criticism toward the scholar approach of analysing numerical data – church membership and attendance, stating that the underlying reasons transcend those carried out by academics. In his book, Conflict and Crisis in the Religious Life of Late Victorian England, he claims the ideological dichotomy of traditional orthodoxy and the appearance of liberalism, as the fundamental reason for the decline. Moreover, Schlossberg revisits "secular" publications, such as the Darwinian theory of On the Origin of Species (1859) and Essays and Reviews (1860) as contributors to the deterioration, thus striking doubt into individual minds by enhancing further scepticism towards religious doctrine. As a result, as Nonconformists and Evangelists remained faithful to their roots, the High Church approached this new form of intellectualism and science. Therefore, liberals took over the Church of England by adopting trends, Schlossberg calling it “irresistible pressure of progress” (Schlossberg 2009, 306), stating the church became secularized over time as liberals flooded the churches and, as a consequence, the emergence of “alternatives to Christianity” - agnosticism, rationalism, humanism and spiritualism (Schlossberg 2009 70).
Next, John Kent’s essay Victorian Religion and the Decline of Britain, claims that it is difficult to have a clear understanding of religion in the Victorian era due to the constant changes in the church. Writing about history’s religion is a challenge for historians as accounts are written subjectively and faith-based in the past. “We must be willing to set aside our own beliefs—about the nature of reality, about human priorities, about morality—to try to understand them” (Lofton 2020, 70). Kent states that by the 1970s, historian sociologists began to secularize the history of churches without the religious agenda, “what was more important was to free the study of the history of religion from the presuppositions of religions institutions” (Kent 1997, 110). Nevertheless, religious institutions and conservative historians criticized this approach for undermining the Christian faith and credibility. After numerous sociological accounts on the influence of religion in 19th century Britain, there was a process of “secularization”. Kent states the scientific discoveries were not the idiosyncratic feature of a decline in faith, skepticism also took a role in the process (Kent 1997, 111). Moreover, he claims that academics are yet to prove what caused “dechristianization” (as called by French writers) in Britain (Kent 1997, 110).
On the other hand, David Hempton proposes a theory over this academic dilemma with Religion and Political Culture in Britain and Ireland: From the Glorious Revolution to the Decline of Empire. Hempton believes there was a blending of British churches with national and cultural identity (Hempton 1996, 136). For instance, being Protestant, the denomination of the Christian Church, meant being patriotic. The same followed in Ireland, Roman Catholicism blended with Irish nationalism. Before this, Hempton considers this fusion as a reaction to the reorganization and closure of churches during the French Revolution (Hempton 1996, 116).
Frances Knight ushers another perspective to the question. In The Nineteenth- Century Church and English Society, she addresses religious institutions for the crisis in faith. The clerical society sought the average believer to attend church services more often throughout the week, yet this influenced discontent from the laity (Knight 1995, 36). John Kent agrees with Knight, the ordinary believer wanted to attend service once a week and participate in yearly festivities, such as celebrating Christmas, or concentrate at funerals or baptisms (Kent 1997, 113).
Steve Bruce’s The Truth About Religion in Britain offers numerous reports supported by statistical data over church attendance and whether there was a decline. Stark and Iannaccone’s table shows a steady growth throughout the 19th century, but once 1900 hits, there is a drop. Bruce estimates the percentage of affiliation of the entire British population (only people over 15): 20% in 1800, 27% for 1850, and finally, 26% in 1900. Nevertheless, Steve Bruce is skeptical over the existing data as numbers may have been inflated by clergymen. For instance, Anglican, Catholic, and Presbyterian churches attendance declined, yet Catholic clerics listed people who were baptized (Bruce 1995, 419). That said, it is unknown they attended further into their adulthood. Stark and Iannaccone add: “the British may be far less inclined than are Americans and Canadians to see to it that they are signed up as church members since a far larger percentage of the British population claims to attend church with some frequency than are counted on church rolls” (Stark and Iannocone 1994, 243). However, according to Bruce, the overrepresentation might not be misleading. Scholars studied attendances (morning, afternoon, and evening), instead of attendants.
Steve Bruce agrees with Alan Gilbert’s take on a decline in church attendance. The investigation carried out in Northumberland by Gil confirms a decline in religious attendance in Anglican, Catholic, and Presbyterian churches, 1866, 1855, and 1870s respectively. Lastly, Gil points out the same occurrence with urban cities, such as Liverpool and London, but with slight delays. “London and Liverpool census data suggest that there has been a continuous process of declining Sunday attendances in the Church of England since the 1851 Religious Census” (Gill 1993, 76); “Free-Church attendances overall have declined since the 1880s. In Greater London, they declined from 13% in 1887 to 11% in 1903...” (Gil 1992, 109).
The Church lagged behind the social progression of the Industrial Revolution following the mass exodus to the cities (Inglis 1960, 80). Religious presence suffered considerably in urban cities as opposed to rural areas - the countryside maintained its numbers. Thus, the religious disparities in regional or geographical presence – south and east had higher numbers than the north and west (Bebbington 1979, 108). Despite statistical data suggesting a drop in religious attendance, mass chapel turnout grew throughout the 19th century until 1906. Additionally, The Bible continued as the best-selling book – even to this day, symbols were ubiquitous and continued to spread, and the Evangelist movement experienced a revival with many of its missionaries settling in the numerous British colonies (Evans 2011, 1).
Nonetheless, there is a lack of consensus in academia, one side views statistical data as evidence to justify a decrease in religious faith, whereas other scholars do not equate religious attendance to individual faith (Christie 2003, 150).
Concerning education, Evangelical schooling was prevalent during this century compared to traditional Protestantism taught at national schools. Most pupils belonged to working-class families and some schools admitted destitute children, such as the non-profit organisation Ragged Schools founded in 1844. Additionally, night schools welcomed industrial workers in the evenings (Bebbington 1979, 124).
As mentioned earlier, many scholars attribute the process of secularization to urbanization - the exodus of working-class people to industrialised cities, however many scholars refute this theory. In Piety and Poverty: Working-Class Religion in Berlin, London and New York, Hugh McLeod analyses the role of religion in three of the biggest cities in the world at that time.
From a local and comparative level, these include interviews, documents, statistics, records from local churches, among other tools. In this book, McLeod does not deny a decline in faith, but contrary to opinion rejects industrialization as the primary motive. All three cities had different behaviours, Berliners were the most hostile towards religious institutions, New York divided by faith and ethnicity, and London diversified and fluctuated depending on location. McLeod concludes faith decline in London as linked to employment – unions and socialism (Weir 1997, 1445). Academics such as Gregory Kealey, Herbert Gutman, and E.P. Thompson believe the latter partly replaced conventional religion because it was scattered with religious symbolism, serving as a substitute (Weir 1997, 1445). According to McLeod, a mixture of emerging ideologies and the overwhelming number of Christian aristocrats involved in the religious institutions made the Victorian low- and middle-class people contemptuous towards the organized church (McLeod 1974).
In contrast, according to the historian Bebbington, statistical data suggests that atheism, agnosticism, and other forms of secular beliefs formed part of the British minority, the intelligentsia. For instance, there were around six thousand members in the National Secular Society (Bebbington 114, 1979).
Now, Simon Green’s Religion in the Age of Decline argues religious institutions to be the core reason for the decline, but not a loss of Christian fundamentalism, “religious faith continued to be important in the lives of many religious persons. But neither as a social institution nor as a body of legitimating beliefs was it, or could it ever be again, socially significant” (Green 1996, 7). The author identifies recurring patterns among industrialized towns. As a response to the French Revolution and the religious discontent in Germany, the church blended with everyday social activities (Green 1996, 232).
By the 1870s, the increase in leisure activity during the Victorian era attracted much of the working-class instigating a decrease in religious attendance - more people went to pubs rather than to church (Bebbington 1979, 113). As described by Gareth Stedman Jones, “Its dominant institutions were not the school, the evening class, the library, the friendly society, the church or the chapel, but the pub, the sporting paper, the race course and the music hall” (Jones 1974, 473). Eventually, the Church of England found its way into the newly established recreational activities such as football and cricket in Birmingham (Bailey 1980, 26).
Nonetheless, Sarah C. Williams believes it unsubstantiated, “religious experiences some of which extended beyond the institutional sphere of the church and which cannot be reclaimed from a perspective other than of the participants themselves” (Williams 1998, 88). Also, there is no historical proof nor understanding. That said, the church, according to Green, failed to assimilate. Thus, received public backlash similar to Germany and France, failing to counteract secularization (Williams 1998, 89).
As a reaction to the alleged decrease in faith in the working class, prominent historian James A. Froude described the movement “fraught with grievous danger to property and the State,” hence continued to attribute secularization to the evils of the French Revolution. Froude believed that the Bible’s lessons guide the commoner to live a life of goodwill while the ten commandments “gives authority, creates a fear of doing wrong, and a sense of responsibility for doing it” (Evans 2011, 1).
Evangelical traditions were common among the working-class, encouraging labourers to work hard, to support charity, and to spread the word of God. In order words, “conversionism, biblicism, activism, and crucicentrism” were the four tenets of Evangelicalism according to historian David W. Bebbington in Evangelicalism in Modern Britain. A History from the 1730s to the 1980s. Also, Ultra-Evangelicalism was present and described Anglicanism as “a sham of a religion for ‘converted Christians’” (McLeod 1974, 68).
Despite the decline in church attendance suggested in the 1851 census, membership increased substantially, especially in the Evangelical community. Based on the data, from an estimated 500 members in 1803, 1,600 in 1823 to 6,500 by 1853 (Conybeare 1970, 446). A huge portion of those associates were young men (Haig 1984, 2). Bebbington manages to measure the strong presence of Evangelicalism in the northern areas via the Church Missionary Society, 42.5% in East Riding, 40.2% North Riding, and 39.7% West Riding. Additionally, for surrounding areas, Durham, Derbyshire, and Lancashire show a significant number of attendances but lower than Riding (Stanley 1979, 201).
Evangelical activists advocated for legal reform, trade unions and protested against slavery in the colonies. More predominantly, members preached the word of God from one community to another while also successfully terrifying the commoner with ideas of original sin and the depths of hell. Scepticism was unacceptable for the Evangelists - casting doubt was punished for “amorality and political subversion” (McLeod 1974, 225). Thus, education in the household was strict while putting fear into the child. One family described it as “all the emphasis was laid on the love of God in providing a means of escape” (Martin 1935, 16). Recreational activities, such as going to pubs and drinking alcohol, were prohibited in the Evangelical community (Mcleod 1974, 225).
Ridiculing practicing Evangelicals for their religious fanaticism was not uncommon during this time. For instance, priest Watts-Ditchfield recounted the story of a harassed Evangelical in the workspace. “Some of his fellow-workers made a wooden cross; one of their number put an old shirt over his clothes in imitation of a surplice, and as the converted young man sat eating his dinner in the works, the others formed a procession with the cross at their head and walking round and round sang him blasphemous songs” (Gowing 1926, 67).
According to McLeod, religious authority maintained the influence of Evangelicalism while other forms of Christianism lost their presence in the social sphere. Other Christian movements sparked, such as Unitarians and Baptists in mining and industrial locations (Evans 2011, 4). More prominently, Non-Conformists found their way into the trade unions and the founder of the Labour Party, Keir Hardie stated, “I myself have found in the Christianity of Christ inspiration which first of all drove into the movement and I was carried me on in it” (Holman 2010, 162).
Timothy Larsen’sCrisis of Doubt: Honest Faith in Nineteenth-Century England provides a different perspective. Before Larsen, Callum Brown and Hugh McLeod disagreed with the notion of secularization in the Victorian Age. Instead of a crisis of faith, Larsen believes in a crisis of doubt in this age – stressing the idea of former free-thinkers reconverting to Christianity. Also, according to him, scholars craved stories of secularization, and as a consequence, overshadowed those of faith reconverts (Larsen 2006, 317). Larsen strongly disagrees with Sally Mitchell’s claims: “Most thoughtful Victorians who lived through the middle years of the century experienced a crisis of faith” (Mitchell 1996, 246). Timothy believes it was a far common trend for an atheist to reconvert to Christianity, than a Christian to atheism.
Crisis of Doubt scrutinises qualitative data of individuals who reconverted: Frederic Rowland, Thomas Cooper, John Henry Gordon, Joseph Barker, William Hone, John Bagnall Bebbington, and George Sexton. Nonetheless, Jacqueline DeVries from Augsburg College, believes these stories to be filled with hyperbole, rhetorical narrative, and “burdened with detail” to compellingly make his point (DeVries 2010, 123-124). For many of these former free-thinkers, Larson believes Christianity to be “more intellectually convincing than unbelief” (DeVries 2010, 123-124). Yet many scholars doubted Larson’s claims because of overwhelming anecdotal data a lack of statistical data.
Rowan Strong, from Murdoch University, points out that Larsen does not explain the reason for his methodology of selecting these individuals, nor does he take into account women’s perspectives. He strongly criticizes Larsen for undefined analysis, for instance, individuals picked by the author held unexplained ideas of “popular radicalism”. Lastly, he adds: “A greater variety would have provided his study with more representational evidence of Christian Britain he wishes so eloquently to defend” (Strong 2006, 121).
Nevertheless, Larson’s article The Bible and Belief in Victorian Britain does not deny a decline in faith in Victorian Britain and claims doubt to go hand-in-hand with faith as inevitable to religious faith. Also, that scholars misunderstood and conflated the Victorian’s writings on belief as a decline in Christianity, but mere scepticism, “Their discussion and reading should not be seen as a measure of the phenomenon of loss of faith” (Larsen 2012, 2). Robert Elsmere (1888) by Mary Augusta Ward was the best-selling book of the decade, hence a novel that doubted religiosity. Yet, according to Larson, rather than an indicator for a decline in faith, it represents society's concern over a lack of religious faith (Larsen 2012, 3).
2.2. Darwin’s Scientific Revolution
During the 19th century, a surge of Enlightened intellectuals and scientists founded and fostered the vision of rational thinking, hence the use of scientific findings to unresolved questions. The influence of Charles Darwin shook the unchallenged conception of God. Therefore, science and religion came into direct conflict with the emergence of the proposed hypothesis.
Charles Robert Darwin was an evolutionary biologist and geologist known for his ground-breaking scientific discoveries concerning the origin and evolution of species caused by natural selection. His most notable works are On the Origin of Species (1859), On Natural Selection (1896), The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), The Voyage of the Beagle (1839), Autobiography (1887), among many other contributions. Five years after his passing, John Murray published Autobiography (1887) written by Charles Darwin, a compilation of his jotted down thoughts and exchanged letters discussing science, religion, and struggles in life (Neve 2002).
From a religious upbringing, his father, a doctor, wanted Darwin to become an Anglican cleric (Wyhe 2009, 2). His Cambridge University years (1828-1831) shaped the prominent scientist he would later become. During his stay, Darwin ranked 10th in the Bachelor of Arts degree - the young student took an interest in entomology, the study and collection of insects (Burkhardt 1985, 196). His cousin, William Darwin Fox, influenced Charles in the hobby of gathering beetles. During these formative years, Christ’s College Cambridge was not deeply devoted to religious education in comparison to the mandatory faith imposed by Anglican colleges up until the 1871 Universities Tests Act – non-compulsory religion education at universities. In 1831, Darwin would embark on the HMS Beagle voyage travelling the coasts and islands of South America as a naturalist – recounted in Journal of researches.
In the mentioned publication, Darwin experienced the process of transmutation and reluctantly published his discovery as it conflicted with the Christian narrative. During his exploration, while roaming through the South American forests, the young scientist experienced the consequences of a deadly earthquake in the city of Conception where houses turned into rubble and monitored the “struggle for existence” among species as predator relentlessly hunted prey. (Brooke 2009, 395). The beauty and ruthlessness of nature left Darwin in awe and questioned whether a divine creator could create what he experienced (Browne 1995). Eventually, this expedition shaped his outstanding success in the following years (Wyhe 2009, 11).
Darwin's later life was disorderly - the death of his favourite daughter added to the declining relationship with Christianity. The exchange of letters with his wife, unable to attend due to pregnancy, expressed his deep sorrow. Additionally, scientific breakthroughs on the origin of species intensified his predicament. His faith varied throughout life till passing in 1882. Many believed him to be an atheist, yet this is an inaccurate account as he identified as an agnostic (Irvine 1955, 133); “The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an Agnostic” (Darwin 1887, 94).
A 1915 article, published by the Watchman-Examiner, narrates the story of Elizabeth Cotton, a devout Christian, who saw Darwin reading the Bible and recounts how she sang a gospel along with him while on his deathbed. Notwithstanding, the lack of evidence and witnesses made the claims dubious. Also, the family never mentioned this occurrence (Croft 2012). Countless thoughts and questions in regard to the Christian faith haunted Charles Darwin.
Darwin’s scientific breakthroughs caused all sorts of reactions throughout the 19th century: some rejected or refused to consider, and others accepted or reflected. Most importantly: “Darwin’s theory profoundly disturbed the traditional picture of man’s relation to the world in which he lives and moves and has his being” (Passmore 1959, 43). His writings stirred controversy and debate among different fields of study: from the metaphysical to the religious. Darwin’s ideas were not solely scientific, and instead, philosophers were deeply concerned with his work, hence unintendedly shaping emerging beliefs, such as agnosticism, atheism, naturalism, and idealism (Passmore 1957). As Wittgenstein wrote in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, “The Darwinian theory has no more to do with philosophy than any other hypothesis of natural science” (Wittgenstein 1922, 281).
Despite the popular rejection of the world potentially not belonging to a divine creator as Darwin inquired, by the 1860s, transmutation science was already ahead of the traditional view of religion according to The Reception of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in the British Periodical Press, 1859-1872 (Ellegard 1990). Nevertheless, prior to Darwin, Robert Edmond Grant and Robert Chambers attempted to secularise the scientific field. The former failed, albeit the latter posited evolution as a divine process towards a form of progress (Bowler 1992, 132). Certain conservatives were beginning to ponder other naturalist interpretations of the world from an evolutionary lens instead of rejecting the idea (Powell 1855). However, the idea of naturalism or natural theology declined during the 19th century with the popularity of Darwin’s work (Green 1895, 78).
The Origin of Species (1859) – the origin of species through natural selection - did not gain much credibility during the early years (Bowler 1992, 136). This publication began with the words, “the view, which most naturalists until recently entertained, and which I formerly entertained – that each species has been independently created – is erroneous” (Darwin 1859, 4) Further on, his work transformed and raised many questions in the scientific community, although made no immediate impact (Evans 2011, 5). According to Brooke, Darwin mentioned the words “Creator” or “deity” in order to satisfy the Christian reader and ameliorate the public backlash (Brooke 2010, 224).
Biologist Thomas Huxley popularised, to a certain extent, Darwin’s theories at the British Association for the Advancement of Science debate in 1860. Someone described Huxley’s claims during the discussion “he was not ashamed to have a monkey for his ancestor, but he would be ashamed to be connected with a man who used great gifts to obscure the truth.” Following this statement, a woman in the room fainted. Huxley debated bishop Samuel Wilberforce known to be a Christian apologist or “scientific ignoramus and a religious obscurantist”, was dismissive towards the claims made by Darwin (Brooke 2009, 401)
During his successful scientific career, Darwin reached celebrity status after Huxley’s claims in 1860. Intellectuals, not to mention scientists, seldom amassed popularity in the Victorian era. Isaac Newton, Voltaire, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein were considered celebrities of the past four centuries.
Darwin invited scientific associations to his home, answered mail and signed autographs but rarely accepted interviews nor appeared publicly, neither in public debates nor discussions out of fear of being pressured. His close associates and friends Henry Huxley, Kew Gardens, Charles Lyell and John Lubbock publicly recounted private conversations with Darwin (Browne 2003, 180). When spotted publicly, the reception was overall positive, except when Darwin went to Cambridge in 1875 to receive the Honorary LLD - students chanted “Monkey, monkey” (Litchfield 1904, 315).
In the Victorian age, the relationship between science and religion caused internal conflict among the people – facing a feasible and disturbing reality haunted the minds of the Victorian. Before Darwin, magazines already made satirical impressions of progressive ideas, such as with Robert Chambers (Browne 2003, 184). Once Darwin hit conventional media, cartoonists represented the controversial scientist humorously – as an ape. On the 22 of March 1871, The Hornet published the infamous caricature titled “A venerable orang-outang. A contribution to unnatural history”, a drawing of an ape-like Darwin – half-ape and half-human (Browne 2003, 189).
Unfortunately, popular sentiment on Charles Darwin backed with statistical data is unavailable, so academics only had anecdotal data to support their claims. Atheism ascribed to evolutionary biology and, consequently, triggered the process of splitting science and religion. Darwin’s ideas unintentionally catalysed the popularity of ideologies such as liberalism. These believed in Enlightened principles of progress through a means of reasoning and scientific explanation - named “scientific atheism” by Stephen LeDrew (Ledrew 2012, 77).
Regarded as unscientific from various academic fields, natural historian Louis Agassiz weighed down on the notion as “a scientific mistake, untrue in its facts” (Agassiz 1860, 154). As a consequence, disagreeing biologists - who were religious - created an equivalent to the theory of evolution, hence ascribing the results to a transcendental figure. Most surprisingly, Darwin’s counterpart amassed a certain amount of credibility in the scientific community during the late 19th century (Bowler 1992, 140).
According to John C. Greene in Darwin and Religion, before Charles Darwin and from a non-religious viewpoint, the idea of the origin of humans was speculative among thinkers such as the Swiss philosopher Rousseau. Instead, the arrival of Darwin’s theories elevated the question to a scientific position (Greene 1959, 717). Hence served useful for anthropologists, geologists, biologists, and palaeontologists in the coming century.
On the other hand, the religious community discerned Darwin’s interpretations. According to Josef L. Althoz, religious respondents to Darwin were critical from a scientific standpoint, instead of arguing religion (Althoz 1994, 53). Despite the explanations on natural selection and the origin of species, many religious scientists attributed these theories to God’s plan. Others described the hypothesis as an attack on Christian principles (Roberts 2010, 81). Catholicism and Protestantism spouted different responses: Catholics saw Darwin’s theory as a promotion to atheism, agnosticism and materialism, including eugenics and birth control (Roberts 2010, 89).
Nonetheless, according to Theology and evolution (1932), this Catholic writing comments on the assimilation of Roman Catholicism to the theory of evolutionary biology. After explaining the faulty literal interpretation of Adam and Eve of many theologians, the author adds: “Science as well as Theology reveals to us truth concerning God and the world which He was made” (Messenger 1949, 211).
Protestants used any theological resource to discredit scientific claims. Nonetheless, a group regarded as “Protestant evolutionists” were willing to accommodate transmutation into the Biblical scriptures and warned about the dangers of not doing so – Christian faith would be neglected (Roberts 90, 2010). In an attempt to not undermine the Bible, according to this group of Protestants, God used non-scientific language for the common believer to understand the natural processes, though failed when required to adapt the supernatural elements of the Bible to scientific claims (Valentine 1898, 218). At the end of the century, Protestant evolutionists called for a rewording and reassessment of the Christian writings; the amendment would then be completed along with transmutation (Roberts 92, 2010). Despite this consideration, many Protestant figures scorned and rejected Darwin’s theories (Roberts 2010, 94)
Other religious intellectuals such as Charles Kingsley and Asa Gray advocated Darwin’s idea of transmutation and pondered over the claims of “designed laws” by God or by mere chance (Murray 1887, 288). Thus, according to Gray, Darwin unintentionally addressed conflicting religious inquiries among Victorians (Brooke 2009, 400).
Asa and Darwin exchanged letters exploring the insoluble question of a divine creator: “There seems to me too much mystery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that a cat play with mice. Not believing this, I see no necessity in the belief that the eye was expressly designed”, “Let each man hope and believe what he can” (Darwin 1860). Nevertheless, this metaphysical notion of deity was too complex to grasp for the scientist and did not attribute the wonder of the universe and nature to chance nor a sole creator (Burkhardt 1993, 224).
Additionally, novelist Charles Kingsley, who worked with controversial figures, discussed the scientist as “conquering everywhere and rushing in like a flood, by the mere force of truth and fact” (Kingsley 1877, 337). The writer was not just involved in Darwin’s circle, he became a member of the Linnean Society of London and Geological Society of London – formed by naturalists, theologists, scientists, historians, among other professions (Piers 2012). Most importantly, Kingsley communicated Darwin’s ideas of evolution through his novels (Brooke 2009, 400).
Darwin was mentally and spiritually disturbed by what he had uncovered – “like ‘confessing a murder’” as he described in a letter to Joseph Dalton (Darwin). Darwin never discerned nor discredited Christianity in spite of unintentionally undermining it with scientific theories. In contrast, natural scientist Thomas Henry Huxley, called for the exclusion of religion when dealing with evolutionary biology, hence “freedom of scientific inquiry” (Greene 1959, 717). The relationship between science and religion in the 19th century, such as the theory of evolution, was contradictory (Huxley 1887, 179). While others attributed evolutionary biology to something inherited from divine law and predetermined for each species. Darwin thought the opposite: “There seems to be no more design in the variability of organic beings and in the course which the wind blows. Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws” (Darwin 1887, 87). Even so, Darwin believed humans to be the superior species due to our capacity for morality and social cooperation.
Nevertheless, in Descent of Man (1871) the scientist argues whether religion is inherent to human nature or based on a social construct. The former reason was widely believed in the Victorian age. Darwin once visited the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego called Fuegians and, to his surprise, the tribal members believed in no God, “There is ample evidence... that numerous races have existed and still exist, who have no idea of one or more gods, and who have no words in their languages to express such an idea” (Darwin 1906, 143). Darwin concluded that religion sparked from our moral sense (Greene 1959, 723).
Cardinal John Newman valued the idea of evolutionary theory in On the Origin of Species comparing the hypothesis to the story of Adam and reflected whether it contradicted the recent discoveries (Newman 1973, 137). According to Garfinkle and Jude V. Nixon, most Victorian intellectuals divided the idea of religion and science save when they dealt with the Darwinian hypothesis (Garfinkle and Nixon 2009, 151). Moreover, Christianity and Positivism: A Series of Lectures to the Times on Natural Theology and Apologetics, Scottish theologian and philosopher James McCosh commented and criticised the lack of importance given by academics: “Our academic theists were refusing to look at our world under this aspect”, “Even some of our sentimental Christians were turning away from it. It is curious circumstance that it is science that has recalled our attention to it” (McCosh 1896, 62).
On the Origin of Species caused controversy in Victorian society going back and forth with science and religion. A year later, Essays and Reviews (1860) written by seven religious members received public backlash when priest and mathematician Baden Powell, one of the essayists, fully endorsed Darwin’s writings – the essay collection amassed 250 articles of responses (Altholz 1994). Additionally, according to the Literary Churchmen, Essays and Reviews was as controversial as On the Origin of Species – one of the reasons why Darwin gained attention from the clergy (Altholz 1994, 52). Following Powell’s approval, others followed such as George Moberly, “Mr. Darwin by a large part of the scientific world appears to me to be a phenomenon deserving of very particular remark” (Moberly 1861). Furthermore, Essays and Reviews stirred controversy by carrying out a critique of the Bible - describing it as incoherent and “interpreted by arbitrary and uncertain methods” (Jowett 1860, 501).
Religious Pessimism and Scientific Optimism
Alfred William Benn described rationalism as the rejection of that which is “inconsistent with admitted truth” and to welcome “logical consequences of such truth, however remote or unwelcome they may be” (Benn 1906, 1). This mindset based on logic and fact sprung during the 17th and 18th century Enlightenment with prominent thinkers such as Voltaire, Bacon, and Descartes. Nonetheless, this revolutionary movement took its toll on religion during the Victorian age with the increasing popularity of atheism, agnosticism, natural theology, among other dogmas. Charles R. Newman’s Essays in Rationalism argued that science englobed human capacity for reason - born from conscience. However, a balance between individual and group rationality is necessary for civilization to progress (Newman 1884, 50). The 19th century was marked by the establishment of logical reasoning as the overarching form of knowledge over religion (Bennett 2018, 64).
Scholars lacked, and continue to do so, data from the average Victorian citizen over the multifaceted reasons which caused religious doubt. Thus, these relied on documented accounts from intellectuals, poets, novelists, and scientists (Budd 1967, 106). That said, we have to consider some of the possible causes of conversion.
According to Susan Budd, the causes of religious pessimism were mostly related and influenced by literature or peer pressure, especially in universities (Budd 1967). Other factors such as trauma caused by parental or school education during childhood instigated conversion during late teens or early adulthood; aspects such as atonement were described as “morally and intellectually inadequate” (Turner 1990, 16). Moreover, the conversion to disbelief was related to a change in political viewpoints. This shift was common among the Secularist Movement of the 1850s – from conservatism to socialism or other left-wing beliefs. Charles Bradlaugh Liberal MP and founder of the National Secular Society received backlash from atheist socialist members for his anti- socialist stance (Notare 2008, 188).
Others disliked the Christian establishment for its political presence and dissented from the Biblical writings for their immorality or fiction. For instance, a teacher “discovered inconsistencies and absurdities, and found that he could no longer regard it as divinely inspired or true” (Budd 1967, 106).
Those who abandoned Christianity suffered setbacks at the time, such as family and social ostracism and job refusals – regarded as heretics and radicals. These were documented in many biographical accounts. Rationalist Joseph McCabe describes: “My dearest friends have abandoned me as though I were stricken with leprosy” when having left the clergy (McCabe 1896, 26). Another was Charles Bradlaugh who lost his job and household for his atheistic beliefs (Budd 1967, 113). Universities were no exception, Percy Bysshe Shelley, an ardent supporter of atheism, was expelled from University College, Oxford for publishing an essay titled “The Necessity of Atheism” (McGrath 2004, 122). These are three of the many instances of alienation when expressing scepticism toward God or criticism aimed at the religious institution. Expressing one’s doubts and opinions over religious topics was a bold move at the time.
After a time of religious literature, the image of God became overused and Victorians sought other subjects which barred Christianity (McGrath 2004, 112). Books heavily influenced individuals: The Age of Reason (1794) by theologian Thomas Paine –the Bible regarded as a collection of myths - was a best-seller at the time. Other popular atheist novels were Robert Elsmere (1888) and The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford (1881). According to Thomas Carlyle in Sartor Resartus (1836), Victorians who encountered doubt turned to autobiographical novels which expressed religious discontent, thus the reader could relate to the author’s experience (Maison 1961).
Though a section of readers craved other forms of literature, Victorian writers created a new form – nature poetry. In other words, the power of nature as a way of meaning and inspiration or created “to evoke deeper questions about the mystery of human nature and destiny” (McGrath 2004, 117). Writers attributed the beauty of nature to God. One prime example from the latter was Romantic poet John Keats who attempted to form an alternative to religious conventions (McGrath 2004, 121). On the other hand, Percy Bysshe Shelley, as mentioned earlier, took a hostile stance towards Christianity with the use of empiricism.
In “The Necesity of Atheism”, influenced by Hume, Shelley argues there is no empirical evidence to prove God’s existence. Therefore, the answer cannot be limited to belief in the creed because rational thinking does not offer a conclusive answer. Scepticism was not immoral in his view - people should not feel guilty of doubt because belief is ‘involuntary’ (McGrath 2004, 121). That said, what led this 19-year-old student to develop such an atheist theory? As mentioned above, unbelief is usually driven by painful memories with institutional religion, especially during childhood or young adulthood. Shelley was no exception.
Shelley fell deeply in love with Harriet Grove, his cousin, and wished to marry her, but was rejected due to orthodox rules. Shelley expressed his resentment in a letter to a friend: “it has injured me; I swear on the altar of perjured love to revenge myself on the hated cause.” And “Christianity when I pardon this last this severent of thy persecutions may God (if there be a God) blast me!” (Berman 1988, 180). Although Shelley was increasingly sceptical of Christianity, the refusal catalysed his dissent and hatred against orthodoxy. Doubts on faith, the disheartening rejection of Harriet Grove, hate towards the Anglican Church and its established conventions, and having suffered alienation and condemnation for his “immoral” views ultimately caused his conversion to atheism. (Berman 1988, 185).
His poem Queen Mab (1813) celebrates the death of God and condemns the atrocities caused in his name.
The name of God
Has fenced about all crime with holiness,
Himself the creature of his worshippers,
Whose names and attributes and passions change, Seeva, Buddh, Foh, Jehovah, God, or Lord,
Even with the human dupes who build his shrines, Still serving o’er the war-polluted wold.
Shelley promotes the beauty of nature and rationalism and rejects Christian conventions as a way of meaning – “the poet promoted a religion of nature and reason, in which humanity would seek inspiration and vision from contemplation of the glories of the world, instead of the superstitions of religion” (McGrath 2004, 124). Shelley continued to criticize Christianity and its “corrupt” institutions in “Essay on Christianity” (1815). Nearing his early death in 1822, the atheist poet toned-down his rhetoric, though there is no indication of a process of reconversion (McGrath 2004, 127)
George Jacob Holyoake was the first known Secularist in Britain. Despite the common notion of the absence of religion in Secularism, Holyonake believed in the harmony of theism and secularisation, unlike his counterpart Thomas Party who believed in the exclusion of religion from all aspects of life. Following the death of his daughter, Holyonake identified as an atheist and gained popularity after being jailed for blasphemy (Rectenwald 2016, 188). Via the spread of knowledge and rational thinking, Holyonoke believed in the improvement of material life. However, this form of adoption in the Victorian age was not enough to convince the populace. Eventually, secular periodicals such as The Movement and The Reasoner stressed this innovative mentality that would improve the lives of the Victorian (Rectenwald 2016, 199).
The Victorian era was scattered with examples of religious scepticism and strong irreligious movements throughout Europe, such as in Germany and France, though the Anglican Church mitigated the effects in Britain. Regardless, the Victorians produced some of the most prominent secular intellectuals and scientists. From religious doubt, the pursuit of scientific achievement was born. The mid 19th century marked a new age in search for objective truth instead of subjective and spiritual meaning. In other words, the separation of secularity and religion.
Interestingly, in the novel Hard Times by well-respected author Charles Dickens, the rationalist character remarks, "Facts. Teach these nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life... You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts" (Dickens 1854, 1). From the empiricist and rationalist point of view, the end goal was to improve the standard of living of the Victorians through scientific discipline. The Positivist movement, created by the French thinker Auguste Comte, strongly advocated for the improvement of well-being and influenced Victorian secularists. Moreover, irreligious societies and journals gained popularity, despite being a small minority (Evans 2011, 4).
During this time, state secularization undermined the role of the Anglican Church in political decision-making. Parliament repealed the Test and Corporation Act which “excluded from membership of town corporations all those who were not prepared to take the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England” (Simkin 1997). The Reform Act of 1832 secularised the electoral system following the statal reform in France. Before this, voting laws favoured certain seat-holders, especially those with religious influences. The then Tory Prime Minister Arthur Wellesley opposed such a reform and, fortuitously, Lord Grey persuaded King William VI to pass the law. Thus, the new bill stirred controversy in the clerical community. Evangelicals and bishops maintained many seats in the House of Lords and saw their positions jeopardized. Another reformed law, the Marriage Act of 1836, legalised non-religious civil marriages ("The law of marriage").
Subsequently, as a response, cardinal John Henry Newman led the Oxford Movement in protest against the new Parliamentary reforms accusing the Whig government of dissent for the legislative secularisation (“What was the Oxford Movement”). The members of the Oxford Movement believed that the Bible and the Church “were to define doctrine and to serve as the foundation for religious truth and practice” (Turner 1978, 368).
The Church, in order to maintain social and political influence, intensified their roles in the public domain – according to Frank Turner, “the period of the most fervent religious crusade that the British nation had known since the seventeenth century” (Turner 1990, 11). Consequently, “these forces of intensified religiosity sowed the dragon’s teeth that generated the soldiers of unbelief” (Turner 1990, 14). Many Victorians sought other forms of belief such as scientific naturalism– the dawn of science as a vital instrument for social progress.
According to Frank Turner, clergymen resorted to natural religion – a combination of God, nature, and science – to maintain the status quo and avoid a similar fate to France (Turner 1990, 12). “Atheist” was negatively related to materialism, so most natural scientists adopted the term “agnostic.” Despite their pre- Darwinian attempts and contributions of natural evolution fused with religion, academics perceived their stance as merely political instead of metaphysical. For instance, instead of addressing faith, most headed their remarks at Catholicism - which saw a strong revival in Ireland -Thomas Henry Huxley, Edward Taylor, and Herbert Spenser expressed their discontent (Turner 1990, 18). That said, the British Science Association was founded by Reverend William V. Harcourt in 1831 to defend and endorse science through natural religion and encourage others to take an interest (Henriques 1961, 99). Scientific breakthroughs in the 19th century allowed the creation of machinery and tools, without the intervention of religion, which improved standards of living – “New Nature” as called by Huxley.
Scientific fields such as geology, biology, and medicine gained popularity during the Victorian era. Surprisingly, not only professional scientists took an interest, but also growing middle-class families. New technological advancements of the printing press popularized scientific journals – only five in 1815 compared to 80 by 1895 (Brock 1980, 95). According to Bernard Lightman, the innovative way of looking at the world through a scientific lens caught the attention of Victorians instead of conventional superstitions of religion (Lightman 1997, 191).
In 1830 geologist Charles Lyell published Principles of Geology explaining the creation and evolution of the Earth’s surface. Often described as the most crucial scientific book ever alongside Darwin’s Origin of Species (“Charles Lyell: Principles of Geology”). The former two publications went against the popular Christian stories of God’s creation of man in seven days and Noah’s flood in Genesis. By 1834, the word “scientist” was coined into the English language by philosopher and historian William Whewell. Before they were called “man of science” or “natural philosopher” (Snyder 2021). The first person to ever be called scientist was Mary Somerville, a self-taught geologist, astronomist, and mathematician known for rigorously explaining a wide range of scientific fields in The Connection of the Physical Sciences (1834), followed by her most prominent and popular publication Physical Geography (1848) (Stenton 1977, 328).
At the beginning of the century, to be a scientist, an unknown word at the time, was considered “not a profession: its cultivators are scarcely recognized even as a class. Our language itself contains no single term by which their occupation can be expressed” (Babbage 2012,189). Scientific research was generally disregarded and overlooked by the public and received small financial backing from investors and the government and, thus this lack of spending impeded progress (Turner 1978, 360).
By the mid-1800s, science became professionalised as it gradually entered the different university institutions. At the start, courses went unplanned - workshops lacked the necessary scientific apparatus to practice research. Ultimately, Cambridge University established its first laboratory in 1874 with the purpose of in-depth analysis supported by built equipment– microscopes, telescopes, among other paraphernalia. The poor investment made Britain lag behind the scientific advancement of Germany - a place where many British scientists moved to get a doctorate upon finishing the degree (Evans 2011, 5).
The sciences in the universities rapidly became specialised and the influential elite within the scientific community spread newly uncovered theories and proposals into the public which prompted an increase in enrolments. Over thirty years during the mid and latter half of the century, the sciences saw a substantial increase in membership. To put it into perspective, members grew from 4,597 to 12,312 and, eventually, universities expanded with new faculties. Additionally, by 1880 Britain had over 20 physics professors and 25 chemistry professors along with over 30 instructors and assistants (Turner 1978, 362).
As the number of students increased, the science and religion dilemma increasingly penetrated British society. Henry Sidgwick described the popularised debate as “a great and prominent social fact of the present age” (Sidgwick 1888, 35). Religion was strong in the newly established institutions and secular figures sought to suppress the pious presence. Psychologist Francis Galton described how colleges needed to rule out religion from the scientific frame “The pursuit of science is uncongenial to the priestly character” in English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture (1872) (Galton 1872). Galton stressed the replacement of religious lecturers with true pursuers of science because the clergy would not honestly educate or teach in the scientific faculties (Turner 1978, 366).
Over the years, Galton carried out a study revealing a decrease in clerical members after the affiliation reforms of the 1850s - secularised requirements to qualify as a researcher or instructor in the scientific institutions. Eventually, the number of religious members of the Royal Society decreased sixfold between 1850 and 1900. To put it into perspective, before 1865 fifty-two members presided over the different scientific facilities – Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology – in comparison to nineteen from 1866 to 1900 (Turner 1978, 367). By the latter half of the 19th century, the exclusion of religious sentiment in the scientific communities mostly excluded religion from influencing the sciences.
For instance, the educational book Parables from Nature (1855) by marine biologist Margaret Gatty was reissued many times by different publishers and translated to Russian, Danish, Italian, French, German. Most importantly, it was immensely popular among middle-class families during the 19th century (Rauch 1997). Parables from Nature was meant for children as an introduction to biology combined with fictional stories. That said, the mentioned book was not purely scientifically-based, natural theology was also introduced. The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly or the revival of decaying flora and fauna functioned related to the concept of resurrection. Also, the notes section of Parables from Nature includes accurate information of these scientific theories (Lightman 1997, 194).
Likewise, Scottish naturalist Eliza Brightwen gained popularity for her educational books which combined fiction and science; Wild Nature Won by Kindness (1890), Quiet Hours with Nature (1904), Last Hours with Nature (1908) are some examples. Brightwen conveyed biological theories of nature through fictional anecdotes about animals.
Like Gatty and Brightwen, Arabella Buckley used science in the form of fairy tales. Her most popular work Fairyland of Science (1879) was published in Great Britain and the United States (Lightman 1997, 197). Buckley intended to make science interesting for the Victorian youth – natural forces written as magical stories. In the first chapter of the mentioned book, Buckley introduces concepts such as temperature, gravity, and chemical reactions - how “invisible” fairies shape the elements of nature (Lightman 1997, 199).
Conclusion
To conclude, the 19th century was a decisive period for human progression and evolution. The impact of scientific breakthroughs, secular revolution throughout Europe, the first and second industrial revolution, the mass exodus to cities had immeasurable results in the shaping of modern society.
For years on end, scholars have studied the multifaceted reasons for the decline in faith and are yet to reach an agreement. Besides, some add counterarguments and deny a lack of belief and claim Christianity to be stronger than ever during the 19th century.
That said, for the reasons mentioned above, the process of secularization predated the Victorian era. My argument through this BA dissertation has been that the separation of powers following the 1689 Bill of Rights, stripping the monarch from absolute and despotic power, resulted in the delineation of the divine and the secular in political decision-making influenced the subsequent centuries. Nonetheless, the process did not establish itself overnight. As a result, scientists, novelists, poets, among other intellectuals with secular ideas such as evolutionary biology, agnosticism, humanism, and other forms of rationalism sparked from the universities, though suffered social backlash for their unconventional ideas. Religion is a primordial feature of human endeavour. Consequently, the backward function of religious institutions lagged behind British society. For that reason, the populace sought other forms of meaning as a replacement to conventional religion – political ideology, natural theology, atheism, agnosticism or other forms of philosophy of life.
There are no definite answers to this complex issue as academia continues exploring different ideas and interpretations. Most importantly, the study of the role of religion in the Victorian era furthers our understanding of human nature and western civilization.