Synthesizes Teilhard's effort to rethink the data of revelation concerning Christ in the context of the data of science concerned with cosmic and organic evolution.
The essential companion to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's The Phenomenom of Man, The Divine Milieu expands on the spiritual message so basic to his thought. He shows how man's spiritual life can become a participation in the destiny of the universe. Teilhard de Chardin -- geologist, priest, and major voice in twentieth-century Christianity -- probes the ultimate meaning of all physical exploration and the fruit of his own inner life. The Divine Milieu is a spiritual treasure for every religion bookshelf.
"Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) has been regarded for too long as an isoteric thinker who evacuates theology by subjecting it to scientific theory. There is an urgent need to reclaim him as a French catholic theologian with intellectual roots in the early twentieth century. Teilhard's imaginative and inspiring work is grounded in the constructive use of biblical and patristic motifs and in his own life experiences of war, exile and scientific endeavour. From these, he develops a distinctive philosophical theology which combines elements frequently assigned to the separate domains of philosophy of religion, systematic theology and mysticism. Teilhard provides a detailed theology of human embodiment and natural substance, whilst his theories of human action, passion, vision and virtue offer suggestive resources to pastoral theology. His evolutionary cosmology and social democratic politics are discussed in their historical context, and the significance of his work for the ongoing dialogue between science and religion is assessed."--BOOK JACKET.
Reinterprets and reenvisions traditional Eucharistic theology and related prayer forms to fit an evolving universe, and introduces some of Teilhard's evolutionary perspectives, showing how the Eucharist is a living symbol of the ongoing incarnation—or transubstantiation—of the entire cosmos.
The final volume of Teilhard's collected essays, containing two texts of key importance published for the first time: "The Heart of Matter" and "The Christic." Foreword by N. M. Wildiers; Index. Translated by René Hague. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
In this companion to The Universal Christ, Richard Rohr and Patrick Boland offer forty reflections and practices exploring what it means to live “in Christ.” In his landmark book The Universal Christ, Richard Rohr articulated a transformative view of what it means to recognize Jesus as “Christ”—as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. Now, in partnership with Patrick Boland, a psychotherapist and member of Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation community, he invites readers to engage with the themes of the book through spiritual practice. Each reflection in this book draws on a key passage of The Universal Christ, paired with prayers, journal prompts, and embodied exercises that invite readers into a more personal encounter with the truth that the presence and compassion of the Christ are in every thing. Whether read daily for the season of Lent or explored over the course of a year, Every Thing Is Sacred is a hope-filled journey into the love at the heart of all things.
The author of The Phenomenon of Man reconciles passionate faith with the rigor of scientific thinking. With his unique background as a geologist, paleontologist, and Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a powerful exponent of the view that scientific theories could comfortably coexist with religious faith. To this day, his ideas provoke passionate debates in communities that view science and faith as necessarily separate ideologies. In this collection of nineteen essays, Teilhard seeks to illuminate a middle ground between science and religion that he felt both disciplines could accept. He explores the Fall and original sin, the possibility of life on other planets, and the role that God may have played in the process of human evolution, successfully challenging contemporary theologians to rethink their views of the universe and its creation. “Like other great visionary poets—Blake, Hopkins, Yeats—Teilhard engages the reader both intellectually and sensually.” —The Washington Post Book World “An excellent blend of theological speculation with practical or ascetical application.” —Catholic Telegraph
America’s Teilhard: Christ and Hope in the 1960s is a study of the reception of Teilhard in the United States during this period and contributes to an awareness of the thought of this important figure and the impact of his work. Additionally, it further develops an understanding of U.S. Catholicism in all its dimensions during these years, and provides clues as to how it has unfolded over the past several decades. Susan Sack argues that the manner and intensity of the reception of Teilhard’s thought happened as it did at this point in history because of the confluence of the then developing social milieu, the disintegration of the immigrant Catholic subculture, and the opening of the church to the world through Vatican II. Additionally, as these social and historical events unfolded within U.S. culture during these years, the way Teilhard was read, and the contributions which his thought provided changed. This book considers his work as a carrier at times for an almost Americanist emphasis upon progress, energy and hope; in other years his teleological understanding of the value of suffering moves to center. Additionally, the stories of numerous persons – scientists, theologians, politicians, and scholars – who became involved in the American Teilhardian effort are detailed.
In an increasingly divided and secularized world, in an age of unbelief, we yearn for increased unity, for a sense of the transcendent, for a humanism that does not force one to choose between God and the world. This humanism requires an integration of ancient wisdom with modern learning, or, one might say, faith and reason, religion and science, Christology and cosmology. As the Gospel of Matthew puts it, the sage goes into the storehouse to bring out both something old and something new. To this Christian humanism both Thomas Aquinas and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin have significant contributions to make. One is not forced to choose between them but rather to see in these two visionaries—one medieval, one modern—complementary insights. One philosophically precise, the other scientifically trained, they challenge us to look again at our search for wholeness, for holiness. Can we see something of what they saw? Can we seek something of what they sought?