On the dawn of theistic evolutionism: James Dwight Dana (1813-1895) and his religious views

James Dwight Dana (1813-1895) was an outstanding geologist, mineralogist and biologist, being one of the greatest natural scientists of the 19th century, whose works led to the changes of the traditional views towards the origin and evolution of the Earth and the Universe. As a deeply religious man, Dana was defending the importance of scientific knowledge and its concordance with the Revelation, including the narrative of the first chapters of Genesis. According to Dana, death in plants and animals is an integral part of the living system that sustains its equilibrium and provides interdependence of its different levels. After initial negative reaction to the evolution theory, he later changed his views and recognized the possibility of species transformation under the uninterrupted guidance of Providence and its continuous presence in all natural processes. The most important contribution to the evolution theory was the Dana’s principle of cephalization, which points out to the formation of high nervous system and human brain (the most complex natural system known today) as the main purpose of evolution...