The Fireside Room was full to capacity Oct. 13 as Jack Hernandez, of the Norman Levan Center for the Humanities, led a panel discussion about Darwinism, faith and morality.

The reason for this event, according to Hernandez, was to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s book, “The Origin of Species,” which sparked scientific study and led to today’s theory of evolution.

Hernandez stated this discussion was put on after the success of a similar discussion panel last spring regarding intelligent design.

The panel consisted of three speakers brought together to discuss the “effect of Darwin’s thinking and those who appropriated his thinking on religion and morality,” according to Hernandez.

The first two speakers, Professors Daymon Johnson and Nick Strobel, addressed the question: “Is Darwinism compatible with religion?” and each had different conclusions.

Johnson approached it from a historian’s perspective. He spoke of Darwin’s life and how he began his work as a Christian and eventually lost his faith. He agreed with Darwin’s belief that religion and evolution cannot be compatible.

Nevertheless, Darwin and his devout Christian wife, Emma, lived together in harmony despite their differences in belief, said Johnson. “Evolutionary agnostics and Christian creationists may disagree, but they need not hate each other.”

Astronomy Professor Nick Strobel took experiences from his own life to illustrate that evolution and religion can be compatible. He stated that science is the answer to “How did we come to be?” and religion is the answer to “Why did we come to be?”

“The Bible was not meant to be a science textbook,” he said. Strobel added that the Bible illustrates the meaning of human genesis, rather than the process. “I have faith, but not blind faith.”

The third speaker, Professor John Carpenter, addressed morality and its place in the theory of evolution. Moral behavior, that is, self-sacrificing behavior for the benefit of others, is found repeatedly in nature. Social animals will deliberately put themselves in danger in order to warn the larger group of a predator.

A mother bird will fake injury in order to draw a threat away from her nest. According to Carpenter, these learned behaviors are adaptive traits that evolved into the morality that we exhibit today.

After the speeches, Hernandez moderated questions for the panel from the audience, and the panel gave their final thoughts.

On Nov. 4, there will be another open panel discussion focusing on Darwinism and social thought, in which speakers will address the effect of Darwin’s thinking on society, economics and culture. The discussion is free and open to the public.