Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who realized and demonstrated that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. February 12 marks 200 years since the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th year since he published the pivotal “Origin of Species.”

The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and much of the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory.

Just in time for Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday next week, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has posted an extensive research package examining the debate about evolution, Darwinism and religion in the United States. “The Debate over Evolution” is a treasure trove of information about the debate and especially useful for the lists breaking down views of the main religious groups and the political fight over Darwinism state by state.

The evolution of Darwin’s religious and philosophical beliefs, which flowed from his scientific research and his personal experiences in life, ought to be of interest to thinking human beings everywhere, as it may aid them in the quest for truth. His comment on the Old Testament, found in his 1887: “I had gradually come by this time to see that the Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow as a sign...and from its attributing to God the feelings of a revengeful tyrant, was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindoos, or beliefs of any barbarian.”

In September 2008, the Church of England issued an article saying that the 200th anniversary of his birth was a fitting time to apologize to Darwin "for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still"

Nowadays the Catholic Church generally accepts evolutionary theory as the scientific explanation for the development of all life. However, this acceptance comes with the understanding that natural selection is a God-driven mechanism of biological development and that man's soul is the divine creation of God.

Throughout much of the 20th century, opponents of evolution (many of them theologically conservative Protestants) either tried to eliminate the teaching of Darwin's theory from public school science curricula or urged science instructors also to teach a version of the creation story found in the biblical book of Genesis.

But beginning in the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a number of decisions that imposed severe restrictions on those state governments that opposed the teaching of evolution.