Bridge-Logos Foundation partnered with Comfort's Living Waters ministry to supply some of the books--which retail for $4.99--to Christian bookstores for evangelistic purposes. Comfort came up with the idea to reproduce the 1859 book, citing that The Origin of Species was in the public domain.

Comfort initially planned to distribute copies of The Origin of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition at college campuses today, but atheists and students had threatened "unilateral resistance," including book burnings and protests, according to Living Waters. "Our agenda was simply to get the books into the hands of the students, without creating a disturbance at universities," the ministry said.

Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), told students to rip out the book's introduction. One thousand free copies of The Origin of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition were also distributed at the University of Oxford where Dawkins is a professor.

Click here to read Comfort's introduction to the book.