Re: Darwin's influence on Stalin

George Murphy wrote:
>
> The only bio of Stalin that I have at hand is that of Dmitri Volkogonov,
> labelled "The First Glasnost Biography." Unfortunately it gives little
> attention to his early years so doesn't help in answering the question.
> It's certainly possible that Darwin had some influence on the development of
> Stalin's thought, though I'd like to see Pearcey's source for this. One
> wonders, e.g., about the availability of "the works of Darwin" at an
> Orthodox seminary in Czarist Georgia.
[snip] Nancy's footnote says the story was originally told in E.
Yaroslavsky Landmarks in the Life of stalin, 8-9."
>
> That all being said, I agree with Bob S. that this sort of argument - "X
> read Darwin and was a bad person so Darwinism is bad" - is pretty dubious.
>
> Shalom
> George
> http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/

It is possible that is what AIG is saying but that is NOT what Nancy
Pearcy is saying in Total truth. She is using this as an illustration
of someone whose worldview was changed away from a theistic world view
by reading Darwin.

Yes she is making a case that classical Darwinism is a world view and
not just a scientific theory. I think she has some insight here. I was
just trying to check with historians on Yaroslavsky's statement
(footnoted by Nancy) on Stalin's reason for rejection of Christianity.

If we are going to disagree with Nancy's argument, may I sugest we do it
on the basis of knowing what she says in Total Truth. The book is quite
readable and I suspect may have an impact on evangelicals.

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