MAN AND EVOLUTIONARY MONISM IN THE CHRISTIAN- PHILOSOPHICO ANTHROPOLOGY OF TEILHARD DE CHARDIN (original) (raw)

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a spirituality from the scientific view of the world

Teilhard de Chardin besides his scientific work in geology and paleontology, especially related to the fossil origins of man in China, developed a philosophical and theological thought rethinking Christian faith taking into account the evolutionary view of the world provided by science. His thought sprung from a deep spirituality and mystic experience. His spirituality was founded on the role of Christ in an evolving universe, as the creator and the center of the evolving process. Here I present the main lines of his spirituality. The role of science as Teilhard is aware that science is the main force that drives today human progress. The relation between matter and spirit, the convergence of the cosmic evolving process to what he has called the Omega Point, that is identified with the Christ of Christian faith. According to Teilhard, we can neither think of the universe without its center in Christ nor of Christ without being the center of the universe. This leads to the concepts of Cosmic or Universal Christ and the process of cosmogenesis becoming a Christgenesis. Thus the world becomes transparent to the present of Christ in what he calls the “Divine Milieu” and the “Christique”.

Teilhard de Chardin and the dialogue between science and religion

We can find in Teilhard’s writings many points of interest for the dialogue between science and religion. I have selected three of them in his conception about science, matter and human evolution. The first is his high esteem for science and its role in human history. Science for him represents the line along which evolution progresses at human level and prepares man to find the hidden profound meaning of the mystery of reality. This conception of science may serve as a good starting point in the science-religion dialogue, since it recognize a potentiality in science to be interpreted in religious terms. The second is his understanding of matter which surpasses all matter-spirit dualism. Matter for him has an internal dynamism which leads it to the spirit, through the process of cosmic evolution. The third is his conception of human evolution as a part of cosmic evolution. By this the conscious dimension of man (noosphere), progress along the line of increasing unity to finally converge into an Omega Point, where it finds its ultimate fulfillment.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE THOUGHT OF TEILHARD DE CHARDIN AS A CATALYST FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

Religious Inquiries , 2012

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, as he is more commonly known, was a Jesuit priest who died in 1955, having worked for some twenty years as a paleontologist in China. While being a renowned scientist, who assisted in the finding of the Peking Man fossil, Teilhard‟s main desire and scholastic efforts were to reshape modern Christian theology in the light of contemporary science, especially in his own creative and synthesizing interpretation of the various theories of evolution. My hope is to discuss the following: the implications of the findings of modern science for how we understand time, space and mind; the theological concepts that Teilhard developed to help us to deepen our faith traditions: namely the ideas of personalization, complexityconsciousness, noosphere, omega point, and convergence; the ethical concepts for an evolving global ethic valuing the person, action and growth; a few concrete applications in the areas of research, the United Nations, an option for the poor and the need for global leadership.

The Body of Christ in the Writings of Teilhard De Chardin

Theological Studies, 1964

COR TEILHARD DE CHARDIN modern man's most pressing psycho-* logical need is an assurance tbat some successful outcome easts for that progress on earth for which he knows himself to be responsible. Unless such guarantee is given, that is to say, unless the prospect of a total death ahead can be eliminated, then there is serious danger that progress wîù. îïoxmàer ano Ûie whóìeìiuman enterprise come to a liai t. Teuhard's life's work is an effort to elaborate such a guarantee, and be does so on the three levels of science, philosophy, and theology. His first assurance to modern man is to point to the pattern of the past which he has uncovered through his "hyperphysics," or phenomenological analysis of evolution. Through his law of complexity-conscious-7*z&&h£r)^¿t??zshetea$áacm7z Oaatxip ïiànowifoerehasbeea nots'cmpiy change in the cosmos, but genesis, which for Teilhard means that the universe has been pursuing an aim, that a single pattern has been running through the whole, and that this pattern has been oriented toward man. Man is the key to the whole biological process, since it was through man that evolution crossed the threshold of reflection into the "noosphere," the mysterious realm of the person. "How could we imagine a cosmogenesis reaching right up to mind without being thereby confronted with a noogenesis?" 1 Teilhard's second assurance is to point to the fact that in the noosphere this law of complexity-consciousness must operate on the level of spirit, and consequently, because of the steady growth of human socialization, there is reason to believe that the law itself will eventually be transformed by man's freedom into a law of growing amorization. For in Teilhard's system it is the free circulation of love imvrgy b&we&a persans wiààz is ¿ione capddie oí totààzing humanity 1 Le phénomène humain (1938-40), Oeuvres de Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 1 (Paris, 1955) 244; Eng. tr., The Phenomenon o) Man (London, 1959) p. 221 (hereafter atea as PH). It should be noted that the French word genèse is much wider in meaning and more common in usage than the English genesis. It applies to any form of production involving successive stages and oriented toward some goal. « Le milieu divin (1927), Oeuvres 6 (Paris, 1957) 117; Eng. tr., The Divine Milieu (London, 1960) p. 86 (hereafter cited as MD). 7 Ibid., pp. 140-41; Eng. tr., pp. 104-5. Cf. letter of Dec. 31, 1926, to Fr. Auguste Valensin: "Without a historical revelation our Lord evaporates." 8 Comment je crois (1934) pp. 24r-25. » Introduction à la vie chrétienne (1944) p. 5.

SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN CHARDIN'S EVOLUTIONARY SYNTHESIS

ABSTRACT The interaction between science and religion has been one of the most articulated issues by many scholars. This conversation has showcased interest in the origin of man precisely captured in the term “evolution.” The problem lies on the possibility of presenting an evolutionary theory that could bear both religious and scientific elements. Addressing this issue, the paleontologist, theologian and philosopher, Teilhard de Chardin presents his evolutionary synthesis. This work aims at presenting his idea which encapsulates an evolving man moving towards a transcendental force of attraction, which he calls the Omega point. It presents the scientific and religious elements embedded in this synthesis and its implication for some schools of thoughts like Marxism. The work projects a kind of metaphysics that really bears theological identity which presents all of the information to stand out as a working tool for understanding human existence.

Pierre Tielhard de Chardin, a spirituality from the world-view of a man of science

During his whole life Teilhard de Chardin, in addition to his scientific work as a geologist and paleontologist, developed a spirituality in which science had an important place. Science and Christian faith were the two poles of his life. He considered science as the driving force of the human progress. As human progress was a continuation of the cosmic evolutionary movement that has progressed from the simple to the complex and from the material to the spirit it must finally converge to its fulfillment in the Omega Point that Teilhard identifies with Christ. Thus his spirituality is based on this movement that goes from the cosmic evolution to its fulfillment in the Cosmic or Universal Christ. His first step is the overcoming of the matter-spirit duality for an understanding of matter that includes the spiritual dimension. As fundamentals of his spirituality he proposes the divinization of activities and passivities and the two concepts of the Divine Milieu and the Diaphany of God. The Eucharistic formulation of his spirituality is presented in his prayer the Mass on the world. As a synthesis he finally presented the Christic dimension of the world. This spirituality is based on a true mystical experience in his life.

TEILHARD DE CHARDIN AND DARWINISM 1

Teilhard de Chardin and Darwinism

The purpose of this essay is to show that Teilhard de Chardin was far ahead ofhis time, as a scientist and philosopher, and his vision is not only current, but still ahead of the present; and to record that, for the above and other unjust reasons, he was misunderstood and postponed from science. His correct hypothesis about a cosmic evolution was never fully studied by his supporters and even less by his detractors, who did not understand and misinterpret it for obvious reasons. Now it is a model of cosmic evolution that the most prestigious cosmologists treat, claiming the paternity of the hypotheses raised by Teilhard. Another objective of the work (and advance that for this reason I will be highly criticized) is to demonstrate that science and religion are incompatible, because orthodox science, based on the neo-Darwinian paradigm, will never admit theories that contain religious meanings and not only this, but also does not admit any theory that deviates from its dogmas, even if they do not contain religious elements

SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN CHARDIN'S EVOLUTIONARY SYNTHESIS (2017).docx

MAN AND EVOLUTIONARY MONISM IN THE CHRISTIAN- PHILOSOPHICO ANTHROPOLOGY OF TEILHARD DE CHARDIN (original) (raw)

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