Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest and paleontologist, provided a unique Christian interpretation of evolution for which he was criticized by the Holy See. He resolved it to some extent by reaffirming both the Church's authority and his evolutionary ideas:
The Catholic Church. . . must not simply seek to affirm its primacy and authority but quite simply to present the world with the Universal Christ, Christ in human-cosmic dimension, as the animator of evolution (In a letter to Auguste Valensin, Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (1948). "My Fundamental Vision". XI: 191–192).
So, Whitehead and Teilhard de Chardin both see the universe as an ongoing, dynamic process that is intimately related to the divine, God both immanent and transcendent, a view of divinity that is involved in the ongoing life of the universe but not limited to it. And both shared a vision of the world as unfinished: Creation is constantly unfolding, and God (Christ for de Chardin) is intimately involved in that process, participating in the evolution of the universe without being identical to it. Teilhard's vision of Christ as the Omega Point and Whitehead’s idea of God integrating all that is and happens, suggest that all of creation is interconnected, this unity viewed as a reflection of the divine presence in an evolving cosmos.
It is true that Whitehead comes from a more abstract, metaphysical perspective, while Teilhard de Chardin operates within a Christian one (but also a scientifically informed one), so that Teilhard specifically integrates Christology into his view, while Whitehead’s vision is not tied to any religious figure. So one might say that de Chardin’s contribution is more directly related to the concept of the Cosmic Christ.
In sum: Whitehead contributes to panentheism by offering a vision of a God who is immanently involved in the evolving world, while Teilhard contributes to both panentheism and the Cosmic Christ idea by envisioning Christ as the force driving the universe toward unity with the divine. One might say that they offer intriguing, somewhat different perspectives on the relationship between God, creation, and the ultimate destiny of the cosmos.
See: Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. The Phenomenon of Man. Harper Perennial, 1955 and Whitehead, Alfred North. Process and Reality. Macmillan Publishing, 1929.
Any thoughts on this are, of course, very welcome.
Best,
Gary R
List:On Sep 18, 2024, at 6:50 PM, Gary Richmond <[email protected]> wrote:I should preface these comments by noting that I consider panentheism to be at present an underdeveloped concept. So, for example, my understanding of it is none of the three versions which Jon outlined (including Soteriological panentheism) which he considers my 'version' to be. I would hope that there are some here who might be interested in further developing a 21st century version of panentheism,Although my interest in Uni…. has waned in recent decades, I find it problematic to address any aspects of the concepts of the infinite without weighting the writings of A. N. Whitehead and Teilhard DeCardin.Jon’s notion that the notions of “theism” and “panentheism” are mutually exclusive notions is truly a remarkable contribution to theological basics.CheersJerry
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