From Teilhard to Omega: Co-creating an Unfinished Universe.

Abstract

In this book From Teilhard to Omega: Co-creating an Unfinished Universe, thirteen scholars undertake the study of evolutionary theology, philosophy and science building on the thought of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955). Teilhard was a French Jesuit paleontologist and a theologian whose views have revolutionized the way we think about God, creation, humanity, the universe, incarnation and redemption. For centuries the Church relied on the biblical account of creation, but recent scientific discoveries in the study of fossils suggest that creation was a process of evolution rather than a succession of events happening in six days as the Bible recounts in the book of Genesis. Instead of thinking about the incarnation of the Son of God as a means of restoring a fallen or corrupt humanity and creation losing its purity and goodness with the fall of our first parents, Teilhard speaks of a Christogenesis which is part of the whole process of evolution. Christ is conceived as preceding the process of evolution but also as part of it through his incarnation. He is the engine driving this process of evolution toward its completion. For Teilhard, Christianity is fundamentally a religion deeply rooted in evolution. If everything in the universe is evolving and if Christ himself is part of this process of evolution, the question then is: “To what end are we evolving as a human community or as an earth community?”