TEILHARD DE CHARDIN'S EVOLUTIONARY NATURAL THEOLOGY

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin develops, as is well known, a model of evolution as a convergent progression from primordial multiplicity through increasing degrees of complexity toward a final Omega point of spiritual consummation. I explore how Teilhard fuses Darwinian and Lamarckian theories of evolution in developing his own, and in particular his defense of the view that Lamarckism is fundamental to a proper understanding of evolution's human phase. Teilhard's scientific interpretation of evolution is inspired by Christian cosmological insights derived from patristic theology and contemporary Pauline scholarship and cannot be separated from them. His integration of science and theology provides the basis for a renewed evolutionary natural theology that supplants the traditional static models developed by William Paley and others. Teilhard's natural theology also provides a framework for theological ethical reflection on how humanity should act in its capacity as created co‐creator with God. In later work, he considers the implications of his evolutionary theology for the wider universe. Teilhard thus presents an invigorated natural theology grounded in evolution that confirms and completes a dynamic and teleological view of the cosmos.     

The Great War and Christian Faith: The Firsthand Accounts of Three Priests in France

In this essay I explore three firsthand accounts of religious faith from The First World War: Forsaken by Private Orr, The Letters of John Ayscough to His Mother, and The Making of a Mind: Letters from a Soldier Priest 1914‐1919, by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. These three priests provide us with a glimpse of how faithful people responded to very challenging situations. Private Orr came into the war as an ordained priest, but lost his faith after two years of fighting. Monsignor Ayscough worked mainly with wounded soldiers, offering them pastoral care in many different settings. Teilhard de Chardin served as a stretcher‐bearer on the frontlines of many fierce battles, earning the respect he would need to talk to soldiers about their faith in the moments just before they went ‘over the top.’ In a concluding section, I try to draw out some implications of their stories for pastoral care today.     

THE CHURCH AS THE AXIS OF CONVERGENCE IN TEILHARD'S THEOLOGY AND LIFE

Abstract. During the lifetime of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the Roman Catholic Church passed through deep changes of doctrines as well as ecclesiastical structures, marked by the First and Second Vatican Councils. In that historical period, the perceived threat of the more and more encompassing theory of universal evolution was the main reason that Teilhard was forbidden to publish anything about its theological or philosophical significance. Teilhard survived these lifelong restrictions within his beloved church by embracing the paradigm of the church as “the axis of universal convergence.” His scientific background as a geobiologist gave him the necessary distance from the temporary statements of the magisterium of the Church. Over the whole of human history, however, he believed the Church to be the “phylum” whose development leads to the cosmic Christ as a guidance beam leads to a goal.     

Jesus and Evolutionary Psychology,Two Agendas

Abstract

Transhumanism is a term used to describe the enhancement of human life through technology, seeking to overcome biological limits. Teilhard de Chardin has been described as a transhumanist, but a closer examination of his ideas reveals his distinction of ultrahumanism, a deepening of the whole evolutionary process in and through the human person. This paper examines ultrahumanism and Teilhard's vision of technology in the evolution of religion.     

Globalization and the Soul—According to Teilhard, Friedman, and Others

Thomas L. Friedman's recent book on globalization, The Lexus and the Olive Tree , sees a religious value in globalization: "globalization emerges from below … from people's very souls and from their deepest aspirations" (1999, 338). Pierre Teilhard de Chardin made similar claims in 1920, calling globalization the "deep-rooted religious movement of our age" (Teilhard 1979, 211). He came to this awareness through his experience in World War I. There he began connecting globalization to its roots in evolution and to the mystics' desire for the "All," a desire he saw animating the work of believing and unbelieving scientists. He found confirmation of his ideas in the letters of Saint Paul, who told of God eventually filling all things. Teilhard used the vocabulary of mysticism to describe global developments in technology, industry, politics, and the environment, and the ardor of his texts has led to their being widely used for secular gatherings on global subjects.     

TEILHARD'S TWO ENERGIES

Abstract. Resolution of the entropy‐evolution problem was a significant issue for Pierre Teilhard de Chardin throughout his scientific career. Although never truly satisfied with his solution, he proposed that all energy must be psychic and contain two components. Tangential energy is related to physical energy. Radial energy in some way accounts for increasing complexity and consciousness in evolution. Analysis of developments in thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and information theory show that Gibbs free energy contains both calorimetric and noetic components, thus validating Teilhard's intuition.     

Search of a God for Evolution: Paul Tillich and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin challenged theology to reach for an understanding of God that would take into account the reality of evolution. Paul Tillich's notion of New Being goes a long way toward meeting this challenge, and a theology of evolution can gain a great deal from Tillich's religious thought. But Teilhard would still wonder whether the philosophical notion of being , even when qualified by the adjective new , is itself adequate to contextualize evolution theologically. To Teilhard a theology attuned to a post–Darwinian world requires nothing less than a revolution in our understanding of what is ultimately real. It is doubtful that Tillich's rather classical theological system is radical enough to accommodate this requirement. For Teilhard, on the other hand, a metaphysics grounded in the biblical vision, wherein God is understood as the future on which the world rests as its sole support, can provide a more suitable setting for evolutionary theology.     

Eucharist, Matter and the Supernatural: Why de Lubac Needs Teilhard

Abstract:  Henri de Lubac intended to found his theology on a revaluation of nature achieved by reasserting nature's dependence on divine supernatural action. He usually identifies nature with human nature however, and therefore fails to demonstrate that the wider natural order also depends on God for its creation, preservation and redemption. In his extensive engagement with the oeuvre of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, de Lubac nevertheless begins to revise this reduction of nature to human nature, although does not fully incorporate the insights gained into his theology. Teilhard's fundamentally eucharistic understanding of materiality provides suggestive possibilities for the successful completion of de Lubac's abolition of the philosophy of pure nature.     

Book Reviews

The Transcendence of the Cave. By J. N. Findlay . Pp. 224 (Muirhead Library of Philosophy), London: Allen & Unwin; New York: Humanities Press, 1967, 36s. Teilhard de Chardin. A Biography. By Robert Speaight . An Introduction to Teilhard de Chardin. By N. M. Wildiers . Translated by Hubert Hoskins . Teilhard de Chardin: A Guide to his Thought. By Émile Rideau . Translated by René Hague . The Religion of Teilhard de Chardin. By Henri de Lubac , s.j. Translated by René Hague . Science and Faith in Teilhard de Chardin. By Claude Cuénot . Evolution, Marxism and Christianity. By Various Contributors . Pantheisme, Action, Oméga. By G. Dussault , L. Gendron and A. Haguette . Teilhard and the Creation of the Soul. By Robert North . The Individual and Society in the Middle Ages. By Walter Ullmann . Renaissance and Revolution: the Remaking of European Thought. By Joseph Anthony Mazzeo . The Gods of Mexico. By C. A. Burland . Abraham and David. By Ronald Clements . ‘Yesterday’. By Floyd V. Filson . Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, vol. 1. Edited by Herbert Vorgrimler . Contributors J. A. Jungmann and Others . Translated by Lalit Adolphus , Kevin Smyth , Richard Strachan . Pp. xii, 346, New York: Herder & Herder; London: Burns & Oates, 1967, 70s. L'église et son mystère au deuxième Concile du Vatican. Histoire, texte et com- mentaire de la Constitution Lumen Gentium, tome I. By Mgr Gérard Philips . The Church. By Hans Küung . Translated by Ray and Rosaleen Ockenden . Orthodoxie et Catholicité. By Jean Meyendorff . Essai de Théologie Irénique. L'Orthodoxie et le Catholicisme. By Alexis Stawrowsky . Défense de l' Unité de l'g?lise. By Reginald Pole . Translated by Noelle -Marie Egretier . The Form of Christ in the World. A Study of Bonhoeffer's Christology. By John A. Phillips . The Canon of the Mass and Liturgical Reform. By Cipriano Vagaogini . Rev. By Stephan Hopkinson , John Foster , Ray Billington .     

Conspiracies of immanence: Paul Tillich,Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and C.G. Jung

Jung's psychology proffers a sustained reflection on the traditional religious question of the relation of divine transcendence to immanence. On this issue his psychology affirms a position of radical immanence in its contention that the experience of divinity is initially wholly from within. Though this position remains on the periphery of religious and theological orthodoxy Jung is not alone in holding it among moderns. Paul Tillich adopts a similar stance with his controlling symbols of the divine as ‘Ground of Being’ and ‘Depth of Reason’. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin understands divinity as the experiential energy of evolution itself working within nature and humanity toward greater configurations of universal communion as the basis of community. All of Jung's master symbols of individuation assume such an understanding of immanence uniting individual and totality. His psychology strongly suggests and contributes to the current emergence of a new religious sensitivity based on the awareness of the intra‐psychic origin of all religions. In his later writings he held out such a position as a significant alternative to genocide.     

Evolution as Revelation of a Triune God

In 1917 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote an essay that proposes union as a way to observe how the process of evolution takes place. He spent the remainder of his life broadening and sharpening the vision, which was based on union in nature. We propose that this vision and the historical development of thermodynamics and classical statistical mechanics offer insight into union and even into the divine life that many Christians believe to be triadic. We briefly situate union in the triune divine life in early Christian tradition as it was believed and practiced. We then interpret three stages of development in the sciences of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics that support the theme of union in nature. Next we describe the development of Teilhard's thought during his scientific career and his tests of the theme of union, principally in his private journals, now being edited. We offer examples of Teilhard's application of union to his own spiritual life and compare his understanding of union with those of Paul the Apostle and John of the Cross. Finally, although the Christian God's triadic life was not a particular concern of Teilhard, we propose union in nature as a vestige of the divine life.     

HEIDEGGER AND TEILHARD DE CHARDIN: THE CONVERGENCE OF HISTORY AND FUTURE

The intent of this essay is to place the thinking of Martin Heidegger and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in dialogue with one another in order to thresh out the latent aspects of each thinker's work that are often seen to be problematic. I argue that Teilhard's discussion of unity that differentiates illuminates a positive teleology in Heidegger's notion of Appropriation, while Heidegger's conception of retrieval/repetition discloses the significance of historical reinterpretation in Teilhard's Christology. I therefore reply to accusations that Heidegger's philosophy succumbs to relativism and reduction into Being and that Teilhard neglects history in his treatment of Omega Point.     

Teilhard at Ore Place, Hastings,1908–1912

The crucial role of the French Jesuit theologate in exile at Ore Place, Hastings (1906–26) in the development of  la nouvelle théologie  has been greatly overlooked in favour of Lyons and Fourvière. In fact, Ore Place played a key early role in the  ressourcement  of twentieth century French Catholic theology through constituting a unified and sympathetic scholarly community during an era of theological and political turmoil. One of the theologate's best-known students was Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1908–12), while other teachers and students included Pierre Charles, Joseph Huby, Henri de Lubac, Ferdinand Prat, Pierre Rousselot, and Auguste Valensin. Within this congenial scholarly community, Teilhard developed some key theological foundations of his thought on topics including grace and nature (miracles, anthropology, and evolution) and christology, and was ordained. The full importance of theological formation at Ore Place for the thought of Teilhard and other French Jesuits of his generation has rarely been recognized.     

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: System, Structure, and Experience. By Ervin Laszlo From Science to Theology: An Essay on Teilhard de Chardin. By Georges Crespy     

Believers and Their Disbelief

Several recent Roman Catholics who were known for their devotion have left accounts of their troubled faith. I consider three of these: St. Therese of Lisieux, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Then I tell of the troubled atheism of Jean‐Paul Sartre. Finally, I use texts of Sartre and Teilhard to understand the unsettled nature of belief.     

DIMENSIONS OF LIFE: A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO THE INORGANIC AND THE ORGANIC IN PAUL TILLICH AND PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN

Abstract. Systems theory provides a surprisingly fruitful approach to several important ideas held in common by Paul Tillich and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. These include complexity or organization as the key to understanding the distinction between the inorganic and the organic, and hierarchy or levels in complex systems. Teilhard and systems theorists accept hierarchy as fundamental. Tillich questions the concept and prefers “dimensions,” including the inorganic, organic, psychological, spiritual, and historical dimensions. Tillich's rejection of hierarchy is questioned, but significant correlations are discovered in the systems interpretation of the psychological and spiritual dimensions as well as in the use of “centeredness” by both thinkers.     

Reviews

Reviews in this article: The Letters of Teilhard de Chardin and Lucile Swan. Foreword by Pierre Leroy, S.J. Edited by Thomas M. King , S.J., and Mary Wood Gilbert . Die Urkraft des Kosmos: Dimensionen der Liebe im Werk Pierre Teilhards de Chardin. By Matthias Trennert -Helwig .     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Essays on Old Testament History and Religion. By Albrecht Alt . Translated by R. A. Wilson . Deuteronomy. By Gerhard von Rad . Translated by Dorothea Barton . The Resurrection of Christ. By S. H. Hooke . Interpreting the Resurrection. By Neville Clark . The Resurrection in the Plan of Salvation. By Joseph Comblin . Studies in the Apostolic Fathers and their Background. By L. W. Barnard . Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition: Studies in Justin, Clement and Origen. By Henry Chadwick . Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought. By L. W. Barnard . Éphrem de Nisibe: Commentaire de l'Évangile Concordant ou Diatessaron. Translated by Louis Leloir, o.s.b . Ministère et Sainteté. By Rémi Crespin . The Desert a City. By Derwas J. Chitty . The Theology of Unity. By Muhammad ‘Abduh . Translated from the Arabic by Ishaq Musa'ad and Kenneth Cragg . Baptism Today and Tomorrow. By G. R. Beasley -Murray . The Vision of the Past. By Pierre Teilhard de Chardin . Translated by J. M. Cohen . Man's Place in Nature. By Pierre Teilhard de Chardin . Translated by René Hague . Teilhard de Chardin and the Mystery of Christ. By Christopher F. Mooney, s.j . The Church in the thought of Bishop John Robinson. By Richard P. Mc Brien . Opera Omnia. By Henry More . Edited with an Introduction by Serge Hutin . Vol. I: Henry More. By Serge Hutin . Throne and Altar. The Political and Religious Thoughr of Joseph de Maistre. By Richard Allen Lebrun . Lamennais and England. The Reception of Lamennais's Religious Ideas in England in the Nineteenth Century. By W. G. Roe . The Church of England 1900–1965. By Roger Lloyd . Uses of Sociology. Edited by J. D. Halloran and Joan Brothers .