Why was Darwin buried in Westminster Abbey?
Westminster Abbey in London (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Charles Darwin died in April 1882. He wished to be buried in his beloved village, but the sentiment of educated men demanded a place in Westminster Abbey beside Isaac Newton . As his coffin entered the vast building, the choir sang an anthem composed for the occasion. Its text, from the book of Proverbs , may stand as the most fitting testimony to Darwin’s greatness: ‘Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and getteth understanding. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her.’ So wrote Stephen Jay Gould , the eminent Harvard paleontologist, professor of geology, and ardent evolutionist in Discover magazine in 1982. Darwin was not buried in Westminster Abbey because he was a staunch defender of the faith. While he was not a friend of the church, neither was he an atheist. Continues Gould, “He probably retained a belief in some kind of personal god—but he did not grant