Is anyone out there familiar with Pierre Teilhard de Chardin? ... More appropriately, Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ - as he was a Jesuit priest - and a scientist. On the scientific side, he was a trained paleontologist who was among the discoverers of Peking Man in China. On the theological side, he mixed his scientific and religious philosophies - and for that, found himself in hot water with his contemporaries in the Church.
Among his views were a less literal interpretation of the book of Genesis, which was certainly not a denial of God creating the earth, but presented a different approach to "how it all happened." He also postulated that humanity was gradually moving toward a kind of collective consciousness - a type of mental/spiritual evolution toward what he termed the Omega Point - i.e., toward God (this is a topic which deserves a post all its own in the future). So yes, it's easy to see how Teilhard de Chardin's ideas were seen as controversial, particularly during the early to mid twentieth century, when he was busy publishing some of them - one of his noted books, The Phenomenon of Man, was released after his death, in 1955, but had actually been completed in 1930, and its publication prohibited.
Note: I am not a theologian, and am not exhaustively familiar with all of Teilhard de Chardin's thought and writings - so I am not claiming that all of his ideas are theologically sound. However, I do find many of his ideas to be quite fascinating - and as a scientist, I have great respect for his efforts to work as a scientist and as a man of faith - and to find common ground between the two. He was a rare and brilliant man.
I also think it is interesting that many within the Church - including Pope Benedict XVI, Blessed Pope John Paul II, and Christoph Cardinal Schonborn, among others, have commented on his theories, and praised his efforts to bridge the perceived gap between faith and science. Cardinal Schonborn has referred to Fr. Teilhard de Chardin as a "mystic of evolution" because of his love of Christ and fascination with evolutionary science - and his view of evolution as not only a material, but a psychological and spiritual process, as well. This evolutionary mysticism is reflected in Teilhard de Chardin's own words:
"The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire."
Go back and read that quote again - particularly the last part - "And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire."
Whether you think he was brilliant, or you think he was nuts, one thing is certain: this Jesuit's ideas can definitely make you think.
+Peace and good.
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