Theologian · Contemporary
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
1881–1955 · Evolutionary cosmic Christology
Jesuit palaeontologist; forbidden to publish theological works in his lifetime; a Holy Office monitum of 1962 warned of “serious errors” in his works, which was reaffirmed in 1981. Later popes have cited him favorably on the cosmic liturgy.
A Jesuit palaeontologist who sought to unite evolution and Christianity: the cosmos evolves through complexification toward consciousness, the “noosphere,” and the “Omega Point,” which he identified with the cosmic Christ; matter is “holy” and the Mass can be offered “on the world.” His “Phenomenon of Man” and “Divine Milieu” were published only after his death.
Why he matters: The most widely read attempt at a Christian cosmology for the age of science; his vision of the cosmic Christ influenced Gaudium et Spes 5 and Benedict XVI's phrase about the universe becoming a “living host.”
Where to be careful
The 1962 Holy Office monitum stands: his works “abound in ambiguities and indeed even serious errors,” especially on original sin (which he treated as a mythic account of evolutionary imperfection), on the distinction of nature and grace, on creation and on the personal transcendence of God. Jacques Maritain and Dietrich von Hildebrand wrote sharp critiques. Read him as a poet of creation, not a guide in doctrine.
Reading
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The Divine MilieuPierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ · His spiritual book; the most Catholic of his works.
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The Phenomenon of Man (The Human Phenomenon)Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ · The evolutionary synthesis.
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Trojan Horse in the City of God (chapter 'Teilhard de Chardin: A False Prophet')Dietrich von Hildebrand · The sharpest Catholic critique; read with the 1962 Holy Office monitum.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each question the test asks.