I am reading his book "The Divine Milieu". What I have read so far is incredible, a whole new way of seeing the world. If you have read any of Teilhard's many books and articles, please tell me what you have learned from his work.
I had heard the name but only in passing I’m afraid. I know he was on the Catholic’s radar at some point but sadly, he didn’t make the must read list at the Baptist seminary I attended. Using your recommendation though, I’ll certainly look a little harder at some of his works and get back with you.
I don't recall ever having encountered the name, either. He has an interesting bio: -French Jesuit priest (Ordained 1911 at age 30) -Scientist -Paleontologist --He formed part of the original digging team with Charles Dawson at the Piltdown site (1912) --He joined the ongoing excavations of the Peking Man Site as an advisor in 1926 and continued in the role for the Cenozoic Research Laboratory of the China Geological Survey following its founding in 1928 In 1925, Teilhard was ordered by the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Włodzimierz Ledóchowski, to leave his teaching position in France and to sign a statement withdrawing his controversial statements regarding the doctrine of original sin. Rather than leave the Society of Jesus, Teilhard signed the statement and left for China. This was the first of a series of condemnations by a range of ecclesiastical officials that would continue until after Teilhard's death in 1955. Then in the 1960s, prominent clerics mounted a strong theological defense of Teilhard's works while others continued the criticism.
Hi Mary, "The Divine Milieu" is translated from French to English. I started reading the translation and found it to be very heavy going. I decided to try a commentary book on the Divine Milieu and it has turned out to be excellent. So, if you do get to this one, I recommend "The Divine Milieu Explained" by Louis M. Savary.
Hi Bobby, at this point in my reading, he is filling in some of the missing pieces I have been looking for. He has a new way of seeing the world and reconciling religion and science.
Thanks John for this background information on Teilhard. I read somewhere that he was forbidden by the Catholic Church and the Jesuit order to publish any of his ideas. Fortunately, his work was published after his death. His controversial ideas appeal to many people, especially scientists looking for the missing link between science and religion.
In reading some of the Amazon reviews of his book, there are some detractors who believe he was trying to shoehorn Jesus into a Darwinian view of the world. I'm not well-versed enough in his writings or in the specifics of what the reviewers were talking about to go into details, but from what little I read elsewhere, even his supporters give him more credit for his intent than they do his validity and faithfulness to scripture. I will say that I am dismayed these days to see scientists get ostracized when they are led to a Biblical explanation for what they see. It seems that Teilhard was going in the opposite direction, seeking a Darwinian explanation to Creation. But again, that's all based on cursory reviews of 3rd party opinions.
The detractors on Amazon are correct in saying Teilhard believed in evolution and that he goes beyond scripture in developing his new view of the world. From what I have learned so far, Teilhard was a devout Catholic and a scientist that believed the spiritual life needed to include evolution for a complete view of the world and how to live in it. The Catholic Church and the Jesuits opposed his new ideas on the grounds of pantheism. But many of Teilhard's supporters insist that Teilhard's vision is panentheistic and not pantheistic. Bottom line: Teilhard's ideas are extremely controversial! It seems like people either love him or hate him. I think it is because he sees everything as evolving and that includes the idea that God is evolving in some sense. This is probably the line in the sand for most people. I'm doing my own research and so far what I have read has the ring of truth.
I'm reading some of "The Divine Milieu" every day because I like it and getting new viewpoints on the mystery of life. I don't agree with everything it says, but I do agree with most of it. Teilhard wrote this book for Christians who are looking for a new way to see the world. Because evolution is the bedrock behind his new view, his books may not work for everybody. But I think it will work for many Christians and also for some other religions such as Hinduism. With this in mind, I will start posting the new ideas I am learning from this out-of-box-thinking Jesuit scientist.
The Divine Milieu - Idea 1: The French word “milieu” has no simple definition in English. But you can get the basic idea if you visualize fish in a water tank. They live in the water, swim in it, and get their nourishment from it. Take them out of the water and they die. In the tank they survive. The fish are unaware of the water. It just is their reality. It is their milieu (pronounced "meal you"). In a similar way, we humans are like the fish. We live inside a universe that supports our physical needs for survival. However, Teilhard believes our universe contains a spiritual component that science cannot detect. This spiritual component guides and nourishes us, some more than others. But all of us feel its influence at some level of consciousness. It is everywhere in the Universe, inside everything, in the air, in our bodies, in empty space, everywhere. He calls this spiritual component the Divine Milieu.
I had found many scientific links to religion in the Bible, when I was doing some real in-depth study up to a couple decades ago. Its there if we seek it. I put some of it up here before.