Tuesday, October 13, 2026

It is the 13th of October 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

I know that Kelvin especially likes it when we shout out the Canadians- and I feel bad they haven’t won the Stanley Cup since the Early 90s… so, let’s tell the story of a Canadian Presbyterian- a geologist with connections to Darwin, a famous teetotaler, a college administrator, a companion of the Order of St. George and St. Michael, and a Knight…

 

He was Sir John William Dawson, called William— born to James and Mary, Scottish Immigrants to Nova Scotia on this, the 13th of October in 1820. When William was born, his father had established himself as a well-to-do merchant in the harbor town of Pictou on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

 

Unfortunately, the market crash of 1825 sent his business spiraling, and while James was able to rebound, he remained in some debt. Young William, watching his Father navigate these troubles, came to at least these two conclusions: his father was buoyed by his strong faith- something William would choose to imitate and that, as his son, he couldn’t go into the ministry (as he had considered) but needed to find work that would afford him an income to take care of his parents.

 

William attended the Pictou Academy- then primarily for the training of Presbyterian ministers- but found physics and biology as interesting as Greek and Hebrew. He began to read whatever natural science books he could get his hands on. In 1840 he went to the University of Edinburgh to study but was called back in 1841 when his family ran into more financial difficulty.

 

In 1842 Charles Lyell, the father of modern geology, came to Pictou to visit the coal deposits and became good friends with William. The two would later co-author works on fossils and geology. William would develop a reputation for having a keen eye in investigating fossils and would reenter the University of Edinburgh in the late 1840s. While he was awarded degrees and became a member of numerous societies, his interests seemed to have a pastoral parallel. He served as a school superintendent and was offered the presidency of McGill University- then an almost failing school. Dawson was at the center of its transition into an academic powerhouse.

 

As a Geologist and collector of fossils, he would be very interested in the work being done across the Atlantic by Charles Darwin. In 1860, Dawson was asked to write a review of Darwin’s work- he both praised and criticized it. He applauds Darwin’s observation of change in species, but argues that Darwin’s achilles heel is that these changes in species never lead to the creation of a new species.

 

His own view was a “compatibilist” view of natural science and theology in the book of Genesis. He believed that God actively created humankind- but that he created us to be curious about the created world. Dawson affirmed the teaching of Genesis and its ordering of creation but rejected Darwin’s theory of Evolution and held to what we might call a “day/age” theory- that is, the 7 days of creation represent Eons, not literal 24-hour days.

 

Dawson would be suggested to become a Fellow of the Royal Society; his name would go to a vote by existing members. Charles Darwin, then a member of the Royal Society, signed his name as a vote in the affirmative for Dawson to also become a fellow.

 

Amidst his work as a geologist and author, university administrator, and professor, he also wrote voluminously- from works in his field to bible study lessons and reflections on his trip to the Holy Land. In one popular but peculiar text, “The Testimony of the Scriptures Respecting Wine and Strong Drink,” he claimed that Jesus ' wine-making miracle and other proscribed “wines” in Scripture were very, very weak- hardly alcoholic at all. He was also involved in a church split when he opposed the use of an organ for corporate worship- he thought the enormous sum and the distracting nature of a grand instrument made it a bad purchase.

 

Sir John William Dawson- Presbyterian and Geologist- Darwin’s one-time interlocutor and a believer in studying both the written word of God and Gods good creation died in November of 1899, survived by his wife and 5 grown children. Born on this day in 1820, he was 79 years old.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Philippians 3:

17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 13th of October 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who digs both strong drink and pipe organs- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man not too keen on biology but thinks geology rocks… I’m Dan van Voorhis

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.