Openness to God in the Cosmos

1. Openness to God in the Cosmos Dr. Robert Imperato Saint Leo University

2.  Teilhard de Chardin’s evolutionary understanding of Christianity

3. Principles of the Earth’s Development Complexity consciousness — through time there has been an increase in complexity and consciousness in the creatures on earth Consciousness for Teilhard is any kind of interiority — that which holds something together as an intrinsic unity On the human level, interiority includes feeling, imagining, and thinking

4. Consciousness/Interiority“the within” A behavioral clue to consciousness is spontaneity (freer = less tied to instinct) Consciousness is invisible A chicken is more spontaneous than a worm; a dog is more spontaneous than a chicken; a human is more spontaneous than a dog

5. Humanity as Evolution Conscious of Itself Humans have highly developed interiors to the point where they are capable of reflection Humans can reflect on experience as well as upon the past course of evolution

6. Moral Weight With human capacity to destroy civilization and humanity itself, the future is dependent upon humans making the right choices The course of evolution now must pass through human thought and choice

7. Moral Weight Only through the engagement of human freedom, will humanity make the right choices; coercion does not bring out the best in people

8. God and Human Motivation For people to give their best to the process of making the world a better place, they need to be inspired to believe their efforts will be received and appreciated An impersonal idea of any kind receives nothing, and Teilhard believes love dies through contact with the impersonal

9. God and Human Motivation Only a relationship with a super-personal center of attraction (=God) can overcome human egoism

10. God as Omega Teilhard applies the name “Omega” to God, meaning the end of evolutionary striving God is drawing humanity to Himself having raised the earth to the point whereby it (in humans) can consciously relate to God and His intentions

11. God as Omega God and Christ are interchangeable in Teilhard’s writing

12. God and the Future God not only plucks human souls from the earth at death,God has intentions for the earth To cooperate with God, humans need to focus on how to enact God’s intentions in society

13. Christogenesis As humans become more Christlike, God’s intentions are actualized Realization of God’s intentions Teilhard calls Christogenesis, which means the coming into being of Christ

14. Christogenesis Christ comes into being in people who are cooperating with Him Actualization of Christ’s intentions is the second coming of Christ

15. Second Coming The Second Coming for Teilhard does not envision Jesus of Nazareth arriving on earth as a separate individual. The second coming is the growth of Christ in humanity

16. Second Coming This view is different from Paul’s (1 Th. 4). For Paul, Christians “wait” while for Teilhard, people actively bring about the coming of the Lord 

17.  Teilhard and Christian Revelation Teilhard reworks biblical imagery to encourage active participation in shaping the world and the future The legitimacy of his emphasis depends upon his general consistency with Christian belief

18. Teilhard and Paul Distinguishing between the theological message and the medium for communication (imagery) is crucial Paul speaks of Jesus and people meeting “on the clouds”. This imagery may be too quaint for people who have flown above the clouds. His message is clear, however, God in Christ will save the living and the dead

19. Teilhard and Paul Teilhard maintains that theological message but changes the imagery Teilhard depicts God becoming “all in all” (1 Cor.15:28)