One resource I have come to enjoy is a short review of new books which gives a sense of what the book is about and helps me decide whether I want to read it. A recent new book I checked out is definitely one I will read. The book is by Sister Kathleen Duffy. She is Professor of physics at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. I do not know her, but the book review by Melissa Jones tells me I want to read it.
The book is entitled, Teilhard’s Struggle: Embracing the Work of Evolution. I know about de Chardin and have read some of his stuff. De Cardin was a French Jesuit paleontologist. That means he studied the earth and universe to determine its nature and evolution. He lived 1881-1955. Basically, you could say his intellectual work attempted to discover how to validate the efforts of Darwin and his evolutionary theory.
But just as important---or more important---was de Chardin’s efforts to reconcile his scientific knowledge with the teaching of the Church. For much of the nineteenth and twentieth century the Catholic Church (and many other Christian traditions) was not interested in reconciling faith and science. Even among his own Jesuits, de Chardin was shunned. It is only since his death in the last half of the twentieth century and now in our own century is he known and revered.
Some of the most important people I read and follow---such as Ilia Delio---can be said to be disciples of his thinking. I find reading Delio and, even, de Chardin to be important for my own development. They know much more about scientific knowledge than I do. I know I must be careful and not pontificate about science and its truths. I don’t know enough. And I don’t want to emphasize a faith that makes no sense in a world that knows scientifically what is known. People of faith and theologians should not be stupid!
I like how Melissa Jones creates an awareness of who de Chardin is and the scope of his work. I will share some of her insights and perhaps you, too, might want to know more. In the very best sense, I would describe what Jones does is offer tidbits to entice me to get the book and get informed.
She tells us Sister Kathleen quotes from one of de Chardin’s books to set the stage. The French Jesuit says, “By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us, penetrates us, and moulds us. We imagined it as distant and inaccessible, whereas in fact we live steeped in its burning layers.” This is an intriguing way to frame it. First he addresses all created things. That includes you and me. And it has to include things beyond just our earth and even our galaxy. Without exception, de Chardin emphasizes!
He then offers three verbs to talk about how this created world is addressed by God, whom he calls “the divine.” The divine assails, penetrates and molds us. That is a fascinating way to see how God is at work in our world and, even, in ourselves. “Assails” could be seen in a rather bad way. However, I think de Chardin means that verb more in a way that says “God comes at us.” God is not “out there,” waiting for us to approach and interact. The next two verbs declare just how close and involved God is.
God penetrates and molds. Our God is one who is in the mix with us. In fact, God is the one responsible for the mix. God penetrates it. God shapes and molds us and our world. This can only be good news. This is not just a contemporary issue. God has been involved and in the mix from the very beginning. And God will continue to be this way and work with way till the very culmination of our life and world.
I like how Jones presents Sister Kathleen’s work. “In this essay, we learn of the mystical vision that set him in an intimate battle with matter, and the grappling that leads him to conclude that matter is alive, evolving and filled with the incarnate presence of God. He sees matter as encompassing all of the reality that surrounds us and he advises that we can be destroyed by it or learn to use it as the path to salvation.” I can celebrate this kind of God and work with this God to create an amazing life.
One of the important ways that de Chardin influences me is this kind of thought that causes my theology to grow. He “conceived of a divine spirit that was not above us, but ahead of us, pulling us forward toward convergence and salvation. It seems that Teilhard himself knew he needed to remain part of the Catholic faith to pull it forward toward his vision of integration.” I feel the same desire to reconcile scientific knowledge with theological understanding and my own life’s work.
Inevitably, our life experience affects how we see the world. For example, Sister Duffy “explains how Teilhard's work as a stretcher-bearer during World War I had a deep influence on his thinking and helped him understand the importance of community.” He also experienced the turmoil of his Jesuit order marginalizing him by sending him to China and to the margins of his own brother Jesuits.
His story is interesting. His story calls me to examine my own story. I find it inspiring. I want my own faith journey to be open to divine formation and my own evolution of faith.
The book is entitled, Teilhard’s Struggle: Embracing the Work of Evolution. I know about de Chardin and have read some of his stuff. De Cardin was a French Jesuit paleontologist. That means he studied the earth and universe to determine its nature and evolution. He lived 1881-1955. Basically, you could say his intellectual work attempted to discover how to validate the efforts of Darwin and his evolutionary theory.
But just as important---or more important---was de Chardin’s efforts to reconcile his scientific knowledge with the teaching of the Church. For much of the nineteenth and twentieth century the Catholic Church (and many other Christian traditions) was not interested in reconciling faith and science. Even among his own Jesuits, de Chardin was shunned. It is only since his death in the last half of the twentieth century and now in our own century is he known and revered.
Some of the most important people I read and follow---such as Ilia Delio---can be said to be disciples of his thinking. I find reading Delio and, even, de Chardin to be important for my own development. They know much more about scientific knowledge than I do. I know I must be careful and not pontificate about science and its truths. I don’t know enough. And I don’t want to emphasize a faith that makes no sense in a world that knows scientifically what is known. People of faith and theologians should not be stupid!
I like how Melissa Jones creates an awareness of who de Chardin is and the scope of his work. I will share some of her insights and perhaps you, too, might want to know more. In the very best sense, I would describe what Jones does is offer tidbits to entice me to get the book and get informed.
She tells us Sister Kathleen quotes from one of de Chardin’s books to set the stage. The French Jesuit says, “By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us, penetrates us, and moulds us. We imagined it as distant and inaccessible, whereas in fact we live steeped in its burning layers.” This is an intriguing way to frame it. First he addresses all created things. That includes you and me. And it has to include things beyond just our earth and even our galaxy. Without exception, de Chardin emphasizes!
He then offers three verbs to talk about how this created world is addressed by God, whom he calls “the divine.” The divine assails, penetrates and molds us. That is a fascinating way to see how God is at work in our world and, even, in ourselves. “Assails” could be seen in a rather bad way. However, I think de Chardin means that verb more in a way that says “God comes at us.” God is not “out there,” waiting for us to approach and interact. The next two verbs declare just how close and involved God is.
God penetrates and molds. Our God is one who is in the mix with us. In fact, God is the one responsible for the mix. God penetrates it. God shapes and molds us and our world. This can only be good news. This is not just a contemporary issue. God has been involved and in the mix from the very beginning. And God will continue to be this way and work with way till the very culmination of our life and world.
I like how Jones presents Sister Kathleen’s work. “In this essay, we learn of the mystical vision that set him in an intimate battle with matter, and the grappling that leads him to conclude that matter is alive, evolving and filled with the incarnate presence of God. He sees matter as encompassing all of the reality that surrounds us and he advises that we can be destroyed by it or learn to use it as the path to salvation.” I can celebrate this kind of God and work with this God to create an amazing life.
One of the important ways that de Chardin influences me is this kind of thought that causes my theology to grow. He “conceived of a divine spirit that was not above us, but ahead of us, pulling us forward toward convergence and salvation. It seems that Teilhard himself knew he needed to remain part of the Catholic faith to pull it forward toward his vision of integration.” I feel the same desire to reconcile scientific knowledge with theological understanding and my own life’s work.
Inevitably, our life experience affects how we see the world. For example, Sister Duffy “explains how Teilhard's work as a stretcher-bearer during World War I had a deep influence on his thinking and helped him understand the importance of community.” He also experienced the turmoil of his Jesuit order marginalizing him by sending him to China and to the margins of his own brother Jesuits.
His story is interesting. His story calls me to examine my own story. I find it inspiring. I want my own faith journey to be open to divine formation and my own evolution of faith.
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