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.     

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

The Moral Philosophy of Josiah Royce. By Peter Fuss . French Moralists. The Theory of the Passions 1585 to 1649. By Anthony Levi , S. J. Responsibility and Practical Freedom. By Moira Roberts . Lettre sur la Tolérance. By John Locke . Latin text with French translation by Raymond Polin. Force et Faiblesse de la Religion. By B. Häring c.ss.r. The Just War in St Thomas and G‘otius. By Joan Tooke . Morale Internationale, I'Humanitéà la Recherche de son Âme. By René Coste . The Making of a Mind. Letters from a Soldier-Priest, 1914–1919. By Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Translated by René Hague . Hymn of the Univers. By Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Translted by Simon Bartholomew . The Future of Man. By Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Translated by Norman Denny . The Faith of Teilhard de Chardin. By Henri de Lubac. Translated by René Hague . Philosophische Probleme der Physik. By Wolfgang Büchel . Bernard de Fontaines, Abbé de Clairvaux. By I. Vallery-Radot. Aquinas's Search for Wisdom. By Vernon J. Bourke . L'Évangélisation des Slaves, Cyrille et Méthode. By P. Duthilleul . Personalities of the Council of Florence. By Joseph Gill , S.J. A Stand on Ecumenism: The Council's Decree. By Lorenz , Cardinal Jaeger . Translated by Hilda Graef . Marcantonio Flaminio. By Carol Maddison. St Thomas More: Utopia. Edited by Edward Surtz and J. H. Hexter. Education in Renaissance England. By Kenneth Charlton. Offenbarung und Überlieferung. By Karl Rahner and Joseph Ratzinger. The Theology of the Resurrection. By Walter Künneth . The Son of Man in the Synoptic Tradition. By H. E. Tödt . Maria. Nouvelles Études sur la Sainte Vierge. Vol. VII. Sous la direction d'Hubert du Manoir, S.J.     

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 .     

SYNCRETISM OR CORRELATION: TEILHARD AND TILLICH'S CONTRASTING METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY

Abstract. I revisit Paul Tillich's theological methodology and contrast his practice of correlation with the syncretistic methodological practices of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. I argue that the method of correlation, as referred to in Robert John Russell's 2001 Zygon article, fails to uphold Tillich's self‐limitation of his own methodology with regard to Tillich's insistence upon the theological circle. I assert that the theological circle, as taken from Tillich's Systematic Theology I, is a central facet within his methodology and that this often‐ignored concept needs to be resuscitated if one is to remain authentically Tillichian in one's approach to the science‐and‐theology dialogue.     

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     

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 .     

Reviews

Book reviews in this article: Issues in Science and Religion. By Ian G. Barbour . Of Molecules and Men. By Francis Crick . The Bridge of Life: From Matter to Spirit. Credo Perspectives. By Edmund W. Sinivott . The Phenomenon of Life: Toward a Philosophical Biology. By Hans Jonas . The Thought of Teilhard de Chardin: An Introduction. By Michael H. Murray. The Biology of Ultimate Concern. By Theodosius Dobzhansry pol. 2 in a series on “Perspectives in Humanism,” planned and edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen.)     

THE MASS ON THE WORLD

The present article has three sections. The first one discusses the relationship of the theological theory of transubstantiation to that of transignification (change of meaning) and transfinalization (change of finality), ideas that were introduced just before the time of Vatican II by northern European theologians. The second section develops a holistic view of the nature of matter. Our present scientific knowledge seems to require that we abandon the Aristotelian theory of hylomorphism in favor of a theory in which real beings of a certain level ‘sublate’ real but subordinate beings of lower levels. For example, a human being is a substance that includes within itself many smaller substances. When he was in the flesh, the physical body of Christ included within itself a vast number of interconnected atoms and molecules. The third section discusses ideas of Teilhard de Chardin about the relationship of Christ to matter.     

Searching for Spiritual Signatures in SETI Research

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) research assumes that we live in an intelligence-friendly universe. But do we live in a spiritual-friendly universe? We include the spiritual quest in a new multidisciplinary approach to SETI. In a thought experiment, we consider two types of alien civilizations by including a Spiritual factor in the Drake Equation. Using the analogy of planetary biomarkers and the concept of noosphere introduced by Teilhard de Chardin, we propose two spiritual markers that could evidence the presence of a noosphere in an exoplanet.     

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS AND THE WORLD VIEW OF PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN

Abstract. This paper introduces the thought of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin from a perspective neglected until now: a view that builds on the analysis of his scientific papers. His scientific work formed part of the "modern synthesis" which laid the foundation of contemporary Darwinism. His main contributions in the field were the definition of a new branch of evolutionary sciences, geobiology; the redefinition of the term orthogenesis ; and the proposal of the "scale" phyletic tree. Using these new research concepts, Teilhard de Chardin attempted to solve, within a scientific framework, a problem fundamental for his philosophical synthesis: that of evolutionary directionality.     

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.     

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.     

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 Christified Universe and the Vanquished Creatures: The Perspectives of Ilia Delio and Elizabeth A. Johnson

This article is a study of Christology in which Christ, the center of cosmos, is on the side of creatures in pain. I examine the argument of Jesuit paleontologist and mystic Teilhard de Chardin that the whole universe is in the process of Christification. With Ilia Delio and Elizabeth A. Johnson, I contend that Christ takes the side of suffering creatures going extinct just like Christ opts for the people on the margins of power. First, I sketch a background in which natural evil must be placed within an evolutionary framework. Second, in highlighting Delio's and Johnson's views, I ask, where is Christ in evolution? Finally, I revisit christological notions implied in Colossians 1 and John 1.     

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.     

DOES GOD PLAY DICE? INSIGHTS FROM THE FRACTAL GEOMETRY OF NATURE

Abstract Albert Einstein and Huston Smith reflect the old metaphor that chaos and randomness are bad. Scientists recently have discovered that many phenomena, from the fluctuations of the stock market to variations in our weather, have the same underlying order. Natural beauty from plants to snowflakes is described by fractal geometry; tree branching from trunks to twigs has the same fractal scaling as our lungs, from trachea to bronchi. Algorithms for drawing fractals have both randomness and global determinism. Fractal statistics is like picking a card from a stacked deck rather than from one that is shuffled to be truly random. The polarity of randomness (or freedom) and law characterizes the self‐creating natural world. Polarity is in consonance with Taoism and contemporary theologians such as Paul Tillich, Alfred North Whitehead, Gordon Kaufman, Philip Hefner, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Joseph Ford's new metaphor is replacing the old: “God plays dice with the universe, but they're loaded dice.”     

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.