Bertrand Russell once pointed out that ‘People are more unwilling to give up the word “God” than to give up the idea for which the word has hitherto stood’. Evolutionary theory may not persuade everyone to give up the word. However, to the extent that it encourages people to alter its meaning beyond recognition, it could be argued that God has nonetheless been a casualty of Darwin’s theory.

— Steve Stewart-Williams Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life: How Evolutionary Theory Undermines Everything You Think You Know (2010)

More quotes by Steve Stewart-Williams

The Ape That Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve (2018)

The Ape That Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve (2018)

The Ape That Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve (2018)

A Billion Years of Sex Differences: How Evolution Shaped the Minds of Men and Women (2026)

Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life: How Evolutionary Theory Undermines Everything You Think You Know (2010)

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Steve Stewart-Williams (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.