Lowell Lectures on the Ascent of Man

As well as an evangelist and missionary, Henry Drummond was a naturalist. After Darwin published his monumental On the Origin of Species, controversy exploded across Christendom, and Drummond was one of the first to address it effectively. Fiercely dedicated to both Christian faith and scientific progress, he sought to reconcile Darwin’s theory of evolution with the teachings of the Bible. In 1893, Drummond delivered a series of lectures on perhaps the most controversial suggestion of Darwin’s theory—that humans shared a common ancestor with apes. Today, Drummond’s words remain just as controversial as they were a century ago, and human evolution remains hotly debated throughout the church.

Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff