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Christianity and Evolution

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Teilhard de Chardin probably has done more to make Christianity,and God in general, believable to the modern person than perhaps anyone else. His most endearing quality is his ability to, and this is a necessity if believe in a personal God is to survive in light of the modern world, combine science and God in a unified metaphysical system. No longer are religion and science two mutually exclusive realms of truth: for the theist to have a coherent system, he MUST seek a unity of the two spheres. This, though, involves risks. It involves facing up to conflicts between the two and compels an honest seeker of the truth to entertain abandoning his previously beliefs. For such a person (and I consider myself to be one), Teilhard de Chardin's ideas are invaluable.

I actually had a crisis of faith while reading "Christianity and Evolution." The cause of this unsettling event is not a demonic, evil, blasphemous spirit contained in Teilhard's exhortations but rather the fact that he is quite honest and unforgiving about the serious difficulties raised by traditinal theism. In a way, he is me what Hume was to Immanuel Kant being that he "awoke me from my dogmatic slumbers."

The content of "Christianity and Evolution" is too vast to cover in a review, so instead I will highlight 2 of the more radical or interesting ideas that proceed from it.

The Universal Christ- Christ can only truly be Christ if he redeems all of existence. If he only came to save a particular species of animals on a planet orbiting a normal star, in the outskirts of a normal galaxy, in an insignificant cluster of galaxies, in one of the countless superclusters of galaxies then "he is abjectly extinguished, eclipsed by the size of the universe." Traditional Christian theology states that the reason why Christ redeems the world is that it suffers from sin, Original Sin being foremost (see St. Paul's argument about the Two Adams). However, a literal Fall makes absolutely no sense in light of modern science (specifically the evolutionary history of the earth). But regardless of the nature of the Fall, the spirit of the Bible is clear: all of the universe has been corrupted and the whole of existence must be redeemed. From this follows the demand that Original Sin be universalized: not as a transgression made by a man in a garden in the Persian Gulf region 6000 years ago, but as part of the intrinsic structure of the universe.

The Problem of Evil- Critics of Teilhard, for example Jurgen Moltmann, argue that Teilhard ignores the "losers of evolution," an accusation that amounts to charging Teilhard with neglecting the problem of evil. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, from Teilhardian metaphysics the solution to the problem of evil, the only solution I have ever encountered, surfaces. Classical theism is absolutely destroyed when faced with the problem of evil (see William Rowe's argument for atheism). Teilhard provides a solution, though. It would take many pages (26 w/ small print to be exact, in my paper on the topic) to fully argue the Teilhardian position, but his main points can be summed up. 1)Certain impossibilities about creation follow from an honest understanding of the nature of God: agape, completely self-giving, uncoercive... 2)The appearance of evil is not something that God could have prevented nor just "decided to get rid of" but follows from the nature of the creative act itself 3) This is a manifestation of the nature of God 4) Furthermore, although I would have to go into specifics, this insight as well as the universality of Christ (if God is agape, agape is uncoercive, Christ treats the human being as uncoercive, and Christ is the universal Redeemer, then the same freedom manifested as contingency in evolution must be given to the universe as a whole) absolves God from being "negligent" in eliminating evil since God cannot be negligent of eliminating something that he does not have the power to eliminate (because of his nature, not because of a lack of omnipotence). 5) The theodicy theory here is part of his metaphysics which, when thoroughly argued, not only makes evil compatible with God, but makes evil (especially as it is in type and magnitude now, both natural and moral) NECESSARY in a world like this one created by God. Teilhard's apologetic defense of God turns into a lethal argument in favor of his existence by the very thing that the atheist uses as grounds to discredit theism!

Needless to say, you could read Teilhard de Chardin for a decade and still not grasp his genius in its fullness. He covers other areas as well including the topic of Christianity v. Pantheism (interesting solution) and the Trinity (actually puts forth a strong RATIONAL argument for the triune nature of God). This is a must read!

After spending a year studying this book, I have concluded that Teilhard could be right on. In the least he offers a delightful synthesis of turn-of-the-century anthropology/science and his religious tradtion. So although I get called a heretic in class, I'd suggest this book to folks who want are frustrated with the lack of scientific reflection in theology.

"The fact that we now see the universe not as a cosmos but henceforth as a cosmogenesis in no way affects the idea we used to be able to form of the Author of all things. 'As though it made any difference to God'!" P. Teilhard De Chardin, The God of Evolution



Evolution Vs Intelligent Design:
Panel discussion on Evolution and the scientific method highlighted "Darwin Day" program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, last March 4th. Sponsored by the Center for Inquiry Community of Indiana, a group that includes atheists, agnostics, humanists, and others skeptical of a divine role in natural processes, followed by a two-hour debate on the subject between a Wyoming paleontologist who supports evolution and a representative of an Ohio organization that supports intelligent design. It could have been more enjoyable albeit inconclusive, if the participants were provided earlier with a copy of this book.

De Chardin Essays:
Reading Fr. de Chardin enlarges the religious vision of the faithful who search the scriptures (Jn 5:39), and offers scientists an authentic new approach to some problematic theological concepts. These nineteen previously unpublished essays represent his toil to fill the gap with some of his genuine thought in this critical and controversial area.
Some of his essays will echo orthodox thought of the eastern Church fathers (Original Sin, Fall & Redemption, Monogenism and Monophysitism), and in others he tries to investigate postmodern issues (Christology & Evolution, Creative Transformation, Universe's Contingence, Plurality, Secularism & Pantheism)
Wildiers claims that the problem of secularity in the essays is central to Teilhard's thought. Yet, what fascinated me was linking 'a world in evolution' with an anthropology that exalts the dignity of Man's work, 'a holy love of earth'
More interesting to me, an Oriental Orthodox, was his papers on Original Sin and the Fall. He excludes the School of Alexandria, from the rest of the Church as to the derivation of those concepts interpreting Genesis. His twofold difficult way out of the Fall dogma, revisited later when Fr. Matthew Fox contrasted it with his proposed Creation Spirituality, is to "bring the past to life again by means of science, the less we can accomodate either Adam or the earthly paradise."

Provocative Author:
Pere Teilhard, an eminent paleontologist himself, was a believing scientist who kept asking theologians questions that provoked earnest study and passionate debate, de Chardin's asked questions they had never dared to tackle before!
The genius mystic who championed an attempt of a new miticulous presentation to help Christian believers understand his view of scientific reality, captured the attention and stimulated theologian's thought. His theological speculations, like Master Origen, got him into trouble and was under suspicion by the Roman Curia, for the rest of his life.

A Theological Advice:
Dr. Wildiers advice to lay theologians in his insightful forward very well applies, today as was yesterday, "In order to fully understand a writer, we must do more than examine the various points in the teaching he offers. The first thing we have to do is to form as clear a picture as we can of the problem to which the teaching is presumed to supply a solution."

I have read many books by Teilhard de Chardin and this is the most useful. Teilhard's writing style is nothing short of beautiful. His writings have an aesthetic quality that you don't always see in more important acedemic theologians such as Tillich and Jurgen Moltmann. This work is absolutely critical in understanding good and evil, pantheism, harmony, and mystic energy. Very useful in understanding God, Christ, and Spirit as a burning force which propels our evolution endlessly into higher consciousness. It is one of those books that doesn't just tell you that everything is all good. By the time you are finished reading, you KNOW that everything was essential, everything is harmonious, everything is God's will, and everything is ALL GOOD. Peace be with you. See also the Divine Milieu, Science and Christ, Human Energy, and Towards the Future, all by Teilhard de Chardin.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a French theologian, Jesuit priest, and paleontologist/geologist who took part in the discovery of Peking Man, and was later unjustly accused by Stephen Jay Gould of participating in the Peking Man fraud (see Gould's book The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History, and see Charles Blinderman's book The Piltdown Inquest for a refutation). Teilhard was forbidden to publish his writings during his lifetime, the 1950 encyclical 'Humani Generis' condemned several of his opinions, and in 1962, the Holy Office issued a 'Monitum' or warning that his books contained ambiguities' and 'serious errors,' that offended Catholic doctrine. But more recently, Pope John Paul II cited Teilhard approvingly, as has Benedict XVI.

In the essay, "Christianity and Evolution: Suggestions for a New Theology," he says, "I am writing only in the hope of making a personal contribution to the work which is common to the Christian consciousness: an expression of the demands made, in my own particular case, by (faith seeking understanding)."

Here are some representative quotations from the book:

"(C)reation is not a periodic intrusion of the First Cause: it is an act co-extensive with the whole duration of the universe. God has been creating ever since the beginning of time, and, seen from within, his creation ... takes the form of a transformation."
"I believe that the universe is an evolution. I believe that evolution proceeds towards spirit. I believe that spirit is fully realized in a form of personality. I believe that the supremely personal is the universal Christ."
"Personally, I have no difficulty in accepting miracles, providing ... the miracle does not run counter to the continually more numerous and exact rules we are finding in the natural evolution of the world."
"The existence of a hell is... one of the most alarming and most criticized aspects of the Christian Creed. Yet, when this dogma is reduced to its essence, nothing is more in harmony with the outlook of a universe in evolution. Every evolution ... involves selection and rejection."
"Not only among the Gentiles or the rank and file of the faithful, but even in the religious orders themselves, Christianity still to some degree provides a shelter for the 'modern soul,' but it no longer clothes it, nor satisfies it, nor leads it. Something has gone wrong ... The question is, what are we looking for?"
"In future only a God who is functionally and totally 'Omega' can satisfy us. Where, then, shall we find such a God? And who will at last give evolution its OWN God?"

Having read most of the works of Teilhard de Chardin, I found Christianity and Evolution to be a rare clarification of what has been written before.

Because most of the essays in this book are unpublished, found after Teilhard's death, he seems more free to say what he truly believes without having the Church looking over his shoulder. In these essays Teilhard posits that creation as evolution makes sense in explaining the problem of evil, the profound love of God for man, the illogic of a literal interpretation of the Adam and Eve story, original sin and other myths. A must read for anyone interested in the thinking of Teilhard de Chardin.

Definitely not new-age drivel. I found the essays authoratative, imaginative, and beautifully written. However this book was of limited usefulness for me and ( for different reasons )it may likewise fail to engage those who are not familiar with certain dogmas and apologetic arguments. Teilhard de Chardin wrote most of this in the 1920s before the second Vatican council accepted evolutionary theory. Since then, his enemy has changed from modernism to post-modernism. His essays will seem unnecessarily radical, mystical and, frankly, too preoccupied with Catholicism for skeptics and evangelicals who may be drawn to the book looking for perspectives on the current evolution/creation crisis.

Students of the history of religious thought may give this book a higher rating than mine, and justifiably so. I blush to admit that I don't know the significance of the author in that history.

Teilhard's book looks at the theory of evolution and tries to integrate it into Christian theology. He tries to show that evolution actually makes Christianity more logical and relevant than ever. Instead, he comes up with over two hundred pages of nonsense. Chardin rejects many Christian doctrines while claiming to fulfill the faith. Miracles are said to be impossible, as is original sin. Christ, says Chardin, should be seen not as our redeemer but our evolver. At one point he says that Jesus is not merely the answer to our sins but in fact the one who holds the weight of the world in evolution as well! He spends much of the book attacking the concept of the fall of man, which he says could not have involved an Adam and and Eve. Sin, he writes, slipped into humanity only gradually. But he never quite explains how this could happen (perhaps osmosis?). In the midst of all this, he claims that all true Christians must be Catholic. Yet his ideas most certainly contradict Catholic doctrine as surely as they do Protestant. Chardin's book is really no more than a new age manual at best. It is utter nonsense. Even most new age writing is more interesting and more logically presented. For those of you taken in by it, shame on you!