Before Charles Darwin, most scientists believed in the existence of a Creator, and some were monks or clergy. Darwin, himself, studied at Cambridge to be a clergyman. Erasmus Darwin, Charles’ grandfather, described an early theory of evolution in his book, Zoönomia (1794) that was not random, but determined by, and a testimony to the existence and power of a Creator, or “Great First Cause.”
"This perpetual chain of causes and effects, whose first link is rivet to the throne
of GOD, divides itself into innumerable diverging branches, which, like the nerves arising from the brain, permeate the most minute and most remote extremities of the system, diffusing motion and sensation the the whole. As every cause is superior in power to the effect, which it has produced, so our idea of the power of the Almighty Creator becomes more elevated and sublime, as we trace the operations of nature from cause to cause, climbing up the links of the chains of being, tlll we ascend to the Great Source of all things."
It was only after Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution, a theory which can never really be proved or disproved, that a conflict was seen between science and religion. Unfortunately, today in Florida schools, evolution is taught as fact, although there are many prominent scientists who reject this theory, and evidence which does not support it.