Review of Essay on the Theory of the Earth. (1813) Anon

This work represents the general loss of faith in church as technology and science began measuring the physical world using empirical methods, conflicting with the Christian ideas of Genesis.

“Thus the title of geologist became, in many instances, synonymous with deist.”Reflects the revival of alternative religious activities like Deism which came about as the main church lost its power after confrontations with the theory of evolutionThe anonymous reviewer sees that steps that the religious people take to defend their tenets as “injurious to science,” demonstrating his placement of reason over faith, a common paradigm of the intelligent middle class.

“They (Deists), in their turn, invented hypothetical explanations of appearances, and distorted both fats and reasoning to answer their particular purpose.”The reviewer here groups the Deists with mainstream Catholicism in a generalising statement which reflects his contempt at religion, and contempt at the religious model for “arbitrary explanations of natural appearances.”

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Ch...

English: Jesus Christ - detail from Deesis mosaic,...

English: Charles Darwin (1809-1882) in his later y...

The reviewer obviously believes in the hypocrisy of the established church.

His loss of faith in the church is most evident, when he asserts to the responder that proving creationism would be easy “The refutation of these zealous absurdities was easy”, but laments that “there are always those who are ready to confound the credit of a righteous cause with the imbecility of its advocates,” reflecting his distrust in religion.

ConflictFrom the body of the article, it is evident that the reviewer thinks poorly of religion.

He dismisses the attempts of Deists (and by association all worshippers of God) at defending their religious models of Geology as being “injurious to science,” due to the fact that they are doing it for the “tenets of their faith.”The empirical methods of the reviewer conflicted with the religious paradigms of the mainstream at that time, pitting proof against faith.

ScenariosA debate of scientist...