Beyond the Battleground: T.H. Huxley’s Complex Vision of Science and Religion in Victorian Britain

[Introduction] The Victorian Era’s Scientific and Religious Tensions. The Victorian era stood as an important moment in the historical relationship between scientific inquiry and religious beliefs. Bernard Lightman, a Canadian historian, professor and author of Victorian Sciences and Religions: Discordant Harmonies, highlighted the importance of this period, writing, “If there is any period in the post-Newtonian age that deserves to be seen as an arena of societal warfare between science and religion, surely the Victorian period is a strong candidate.” For example, Charles Darwin’s momentous 1859 publication of On the Origin of Species in this era remains one of the main catalysts in the conflict between science and religion. Darwin’s publication on evolutionary theory brought attention to major inconsistencies between religious belief and scientific fact. These inconsistencies sparked many heated debates regarding the validity of previously held theological views. Yet, to characterize this era as simply a battleground between science and religion simplifies the views that many Victorian intellectuals held regarding these matters. Thomas Henry (T.H.) Huxley, known as “Darwin’s Bulldog” and the father of agnosticism, arose as one of the key figures who embodied the complex intellectual views regarding the relationship between religion and science in the Victorian era.