Abstract
In his autobiography entitled Recollections of the Development of My Mind and Character prepared by Darwin for his children there is an extensive section on the development of his religious views. Though Darwin never intended the autobiography for publication, it was subsequently edited and published by his son, Sir Francis Darwin. In editing, Sir Francis Darwin omitted the section on his father's religious views and instead presented them as brief quotations accompanied by his own summary. The original handwritten autobiography is in the Cambridge University library. The author has used this manuscript as the basis for much of this article. In his early life Darwin was a committed Christian. Later, he was much influenced by his father who expressed his skepticism quite openly. Another factor was Darwin's understanding of the Genesis account as teaching fixity of species so that when he became convinced that new speciews could arise he came to believe that the Bible was unreliable. Thus, as he grew older he left the camp of orthodox Christianity and became an agnostic.