Teilhard de Chardin: The Attack on Man

I do not know what the newly elected General of the Jesuits meant when he said at a recent press conference that “the positive elements” in the work of Teilhard de Chardin were far more important than “the negative elements or those which are questionable.” Nor would I, as a non-Catholic, argue with him on Catholic theological grounds. Philosophically, however, Teilhard’s thesis would seem tometobe directed squarely against the concept of the integrity of the human person, which is the foundation of Western civilization.

A sort of amalgamation of theological evolutionism and cosmological mysticism, Teilhard’s system presents us with a universe in which the human person—and, for that matter, the person of God—is absorbed to the point of disappearance within a great “spiritual” evolutionary force. He sings a paean to that force proceeding impersonally and irresistibly to the “Omega” point where God, man, and the whole of existence are fused in a featureless unity much more akin to Brahma or Nirvana than to anything in Classical, Hebrew, or Western Christian thought.

FS

About the Author

Frank S. Meyer

Frank S. Meyer was a senior editor of National Review.

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I do not know what the newly elected General of the Jesuits meant when he said at a recent press conference that “the positive elements” in the work of Teilhard de Chardin were far more important than “the negative elements or those which are questionable.” Nor would I, as a non-Catholic, argue with him on Catholic theological grounds. Philosophically, however, Teilhard’s thesis would seem tometobe directed squarely against the concept of the integrity of the human person, which is the foundation of Western civilization.

A sort of amalgamation of theological evolutionism and cosmological mysticism, Teilhard’s system presents us with a universe in which the human person—and, for that matter, the person of God—is absorbed to the point of disappearance within a great “spiritual” evolutionary force. He sings a paean to that force proceeding impersonally and irresistibly to the “Omega” point where God, man, and the whole of existence are fused in a featureless unity much more akin to Brahma or Nirvana than to anything in Classical, Hebrew, or Western Christian thought.