Although I can see Eliade’s description of the sacred view of life in Darwin’s work, The Origin of the Species reflects a modern perspective in which history, not heaven, is the source of meaning. Although I can see a mythical structure to the description of life in The Origin of the Species, that description of life is more profane than sacred, as Eliade used those words, because it is history, not divinity that is the basis for meaning, and thus, reality.

Darwin’s expression, “natural selection,” which he contrasts with “human selection,” also contrasts with “divine selection.” Ironically, the use of a metaphor like that is consistent with the way ancient religious humanity viewed all of life: every thing here was modeled after its counterpart in heaven, everything here derived its meaning from its counterpart in heaven.