Introduction
The reception made to Charles Darwin[1]'s theories in France and in the United Kingdom over the half-century following their publication brings out the fact that what has sometimes been presented as a full-frontal clash between irreconcilable conceptions and radically opposed camps was in fact much more complex. Recent research on that theme undertaken mostly in the English-speaking realm (see bibliography) frequently highlights this complexity. Comparing its reception in France and in the United Kingdom brings out besides diverse Christian stances, from Catholicism to Anglicanism to a range of British non-conformist (aka dissenting[2] ) churches. Two phases will be considered. The first will deal with Darwin and his theory. It focuses on Darwin's religious beliefs, on what most clearly contradicts the times' Christian beliefs in On the Origin of Species (1859) and on the channels through which Darwinian theory spread to a broad audience. The second part examines through specific examples the full gamut of reactions elicited by Darwinian theories in religious spheres, among church or lay men.
