AN INTRODUCTION TO THE THOUGHT OF TEILHARD DE CHARDIN AS A CATALYST FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

Abstract

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, as he is more commonly known, was a Jesuit priest who died in 1955, having worked for some twenty years as a paleontologist in China. While being a renowned scientist, who assisted in the finding of the Peking Man fossil, Teilhard’s main desire and scholastic efforts were to reshape modern Christian theology in the light of contemporary science, especially in his own creative and synthesizing interpretation of the various theories of evolution. My hope is to discuss the following: the implications of the findings of modern science for how we understand time, space and mind; the theological concepts that Teilhard developed to help us to deepen our faith traditions: namely the ideas of personalization, complexity-consciousness, noosphere, omega point, and convergence; the ethical concepts for an evolving global ethic valuing the person, action and growth; a few concrete applications in the areas of research, the United Nations, an option for the poor and the need for global leadership.