From Ronald H. Fritze’s Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-religions (p. 184-5):
The English scientist Charles Lyell (1797–1875) promoted uniformitarian ideas in geology, and Charles Darwin (1809–1882) adapted them to underpin his theory of biological evolution. Lyell’s work eloquently rejected the age-old concept of Catastrophism, which claimed that most changes in nature occur suddenly as a result of great and universal calamities. Chiefly through the cosmic drama of the biblical account of Noah’s universal flood Christianity had programmed people to think in terms of catastrophism. Other cultures throughout the world held to similar legends of universal floods or other great catastrophes like the supposed sinking of Atlantis.