Both publications, The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man, posed a threat to Christian beliefs, specifically those of creationism. With his first book, Darwin had made a point to stay away from man's part in evolution for fear that society was not yet ready. After the publication of The Descent of Man conflict between Darwin's theory and the teaching of the Church spread like wildfire. One of the greatest threats of Darwin's theory to Christians was its views towards God and the place of man within the physical world. Up until the mid 19th century, Christians interpreted the Bible literally. It was their belief that God existed external to the process of creation and events, interfering from time to time to influence the spiritual development of man. Whereas the theory of evolution forced God to be "viewed" as a concept within the process (One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought, 1991). Holding onto the Christian beliefs about man as fallen and separate from the animal, created a fierce resistance to the theory of evolution, especially from the Roman Catholic Church ("Religion and Science, Nineteenth Century." Dictionary of Ideas, 1973). Yet as the work of scientists brought increasing evidence in support of evolution, most Christians and the Church redefined their interpretation of the Bible and the first Darwinist revolution faded away.
Over fifty years after the theory of evolution was introduced, the conflict between science and the church sprang up once more, causing a backlash against science in the early twentieth century. This was seen most dramatically in America (Science On Trial: The Case for Evolution, 1983). Nineteenth century Americans lived mostly on farms and in small towns. The traditional Protestant code of morality was almost universal in a nation that still derived its ancestry from Great Britain and Western Europe. After 1890, America changed with incredible speed. Growth in industry and a vast expansion of cities overflowing with immigrant laborers from Eastern and Southern Europe with a "different" moral code created an environment alienating Americans from each other. The alienation was heightened by World War I and the fundamentalist crusade against evolution was underway. For the Fundamentalist Christian the issues were clear. The Bible spoke the inarguable truth. Teaching children the theory of evolution was an affront to the word of the Bible and they wanted to put an end to it before it corrupted the youth of our nation. In 1925, the Fundamentalists made their first real step towards reaching their goal when Tennessee passed the Butler Act, a law declaring it illegal to teach evolution. Instead the schools had to teach creationism in accordance with the Bible (The Great Monkey Trial: Science vs. Fundamentalism in America, 1990). It was in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, that the most remembered trial in our history took place, The Scopes Trial.
