The response of the theological thought at the University of Jena to the birth of darwinism according to Ernst Haeckel

The present paper brings up issues of the relationships between the evolutionary theory and religion in Jena University in the second part of the 19th century. Differences between original Darwinian evolutionary theory and philosophical interpretations of this theory are reported. As an example, the dispute between biologist and philosophical monist Ernst Haeckel and theologian Bernhard Pünjer is recounted. A point of departure for this dispute – the lecture Über das Verhältniss des Darwinismus zu Religion und Sittlichkeit – is summarized and commented.

Keywords: Bernhard Pünjer, Ernst Haeckel, Charles Darwin, monism, science and religion, evolutionary theory