During the first press screening here of "Creation," during a scene when Charles Darwin walks out of church during a sermon on the first book of Genesis, an audience member stood up and walked out. Was he offended by the film? There's no way to say. There were an unusually large number of walk-outs, but who knows if they were leaving for theological reasons, or to get in line for the screenings of "Bright Star" or "Fish Tank," or because of boredom? I hope it wasn't boredom. Although it's a movie with a good deal of talk, at least no one shouted out, "You lie!"

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The British are saying this is too controversial to bring to the U.S.

Since when has any film critical about religion been too controversial for the U.S.?

Roger Ebert thinks that Darwin's objections to faith are equally "straw-man-esque."

Ebert says, "Fearing to offend his wife, he was shy about extending his belief to the evolution of mankind itself, but it is certainly what he privately thought. He denied being a atheist, but said agnosticism came close to reflecting his views. Apart from his research and ideas about science, that conflict in this marriage and with the conventional religious of his times was the most significant thing about him. The movie devotes most of its attention to the marriage, as Emma (Jennifer Connelly) rebukes Charles (Paul Bettany) for his heretical convictions and thinks they mean the two of them cannot spend eternity together. They're both intelligent and deeply in love, and it's a shame the movie doesn't allow them to fully debate their differences. It sees their opinions instead somewhat vaguely as personality characteristics. Did it occur to Darwin or his wife that nothing in his ideas precluded the existence of God? Today, no major religion finds conflict between God and the theory of evolution. The majority of Christians can live with both ideas; religious opposition to Darwin is limited primarily to a fundamentalist minority of American Christians."

He further notes that Darwin says nothing about Genesis that many leading theologians of his time were not already saying.

The history of Darwin's struggle with faith is far from conclusive. He started out as a student headed toward ministry. He began to gradually question his faith, but never declared himself any more than an agnostic on a continuum of belief and non-belief.

The role of a daughter's death in his journey from faith is speculative. It certainly was not anger at God – especially if he doubted God's existence. It would be tantamount to be blaming the Easter Bunny for my heartaches. Some have suggested that his understanding of the cycles apart from any divine intervention of life actually brought him comfort.

Ebert seems to suggest that Darwin could have continued to believe in God if he had not concluded that religion would not be willing to coexist with his theories.

In these days, Darwin and his work is still at the center of many debates over theism vs atheism.

Perhaps it is one thing to disagree with a comprehensive evolutionary paradigm – even on the basis of scripture – and to make it a test of faith to adopt such a disagreement in order to be a Christian. Are we setting a false bar against people exploring faith and the claims of Jesus when we imply, "You must choose between God and Darwin and you must choose now?"

Perhaps the claims could be considered independently at the outset and then worked out later. Perhaps reason, revelation, and the Holy Spirit could be trusted a little more and we could fight our battles in a different arena.

As for the faith, my position remains the same:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Maker of heaven and earth,
    and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
    born of the virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
    from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
    the holy catholic church;
    the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins;
    the resurrection of the body;
    and the life everlasting.

Amen.

I have yet to read anything in science or theology to convince me to believe differently.