The controversy was fueled by one of Darwin's most vigorous promoters, Thomas Henry Huxley, who opined that Christianity is "a compound of some of the best and some of the worst elements of [[Paganism]] and [[Judaism]], moulded in practice by the innate character of certain people of the Western World".<ref>{{hnb|Burns, Ralph, Lerner, & Standish|1982|Ref=CITEREFBurnsRalphLernerStandish1982|p=965}}, {{hnb|Huxley|1902}}</ref> Perhaps the most uncompromising of the evolutionary philosophers was the [[Germany|German]], [[Ernst Heinrick Haeckel]], a [[professor]] of biology, who dogmatically affirmed that nothing spiritual exists.<ref>{{hnb|Burns, Ralph, Lerner, & Standish|1982|Ref=CITEREFBurnsRalphLernerStandish1982|p=965}}</ref>
A watershed in the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] objections to evolution occurred after about 1875.<ref>{{hnb|Numbers|1992|p=13}}</ref> Previously, citing [[Louis Agassiz]] and other scientific luminaries, Protestant contributors to religious quarterlies dismissed Darwin's theories as unscientific.<ref>{{hnb|Numbers|1992|p=13}}</ref> After 1875, it became clear that the majority of naturalists embraced evolution, and a sizable minority of these Protestant contributors rejected Darwin's theory because it called into question the veracity of [[Scripture]]s.<ref>{{hnb|Numbers|1992|p=13}}</ref> Even so, virtually none of these dissenters insisted on a young Earth, as that position had already been ceded.<ref>{{hnb|Numbers|1992|p=14}}</ref>
The greatest concern for creationists at the turn of the [[twentieth century]] was the issue of human ancestry.<ref>{{hnb|Numbers|1992|p=15}}</ref>