On the resurgence of Teilhard de Chardin

If there ever was a theology very much in vogue and appealing to hipsters, "new-agers", the young and the fashionable, it was that of Teilhard de Chardin -- whose theological vision served as aesthetic inspiration for jazz, folk folk and classical albums; the basis for a science fiction novels, and also a chief influence on Salvador Dali's artistic incorporation of religious iconography. Recently, Teilhard's name popped up in popular discussions of eugenics, transhumanism and artificial intelligence, with the philosopher Eric Steindhart praising Teilhard as "one of the first to articulate transhumanist themes".

The mystical theology of Teilhard de Chardin has been alluded to time and again in the works of recent popes -- implicitly by Pope Saint John Paul II, in his encyclical Ecclesia Eucharistica: "the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates all creation". Chardin exercised an influence on Ratzinger/Benedict XVI as well, who referenced him numerous times in his book Spirit of the Liturgy as well as his speeches and homilies.

Thus it comes as little surprise that we find Pope Francis -- especially with his (pre)occupation with ecology -- carrying the Teilhardian banner, or that under his pontificate the Pontifical Council of Culture would request the repeal of the Holy Office's 1962 Monitum (warning) -- or even that a petition was recently circulated to declare Teilhard de Chardin a "Doctor of the Church."

Nor is it suprising that with every instance of a papal quotation, his supporters seem to reassert themselves, rushing to zealously proclaim on social media that he is being "REHABILITATED" in their desire to exonerate a polarizing theologian whose work, arguably, should still and nonetheless be approached with no small amount of caution.

Teilhard's defenders include the esteemed Henri de Lubac, who remarked "We need not concern ourselves with a number of detractors of Teilhard, in whom emotion has blunted intelligence." and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, who naively mused that "it is very likely that within fifty years all the trivial, verbal disputes about the meaning of Teilhard's "unfortunate" vocabulary will have died away, Teilhard will appear like John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila, as the spiritual genius of the twentieth century."

On the other hand, those De Lubac ridiculed with "blunted intelligence" include the likes of Etienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain, Cardinal de Journet, and Dietrich von Hildebrand -- all of whom in my humble opinion, were justifiably hesitant and properly cautious over the philosophical implications of Teilhard's theology, when carried to its ultimate conclusions.

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Via the web, here's a compilation of related material as I dig a little deeper into said debate:

The Monitum on Teilhard de Chardin

• Monitum on the Writings of Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, SJ Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. 06/30/62.
• Letter to [Pope Francis] to waive the Monitum on Teilhard's Works". Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture. 11/17/17.
• PETITION: Declare Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., a Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church. Daryl Domning.

Teilhard de Chardin - Rehabilitated?

• Is Teilhard de Chardin being rehabilitated? And who is that, anyway?, by Luke Coppen. The Pillar 09/04/23.

• Pope cites Teilhardian vision of the cosmos as a 'living host', by John Allen Jr. National Catholic Reporter 07/28/09. Allen observes that regarding Teilhard "Benedict has sometimes seemed to be of two minds himself," at times agreeing with his cosmic vision, but also "complained that Gaudium et Spes [...] played down the reality of sin because of an overly 'French,' and specifically 'Teilhardian,' influence."

• When a Jesuit Evolutionist and a Religious Existentialist Cross Paths; (Or) Why Won't the New Humanity Emerge Already?, J. Scott Jackson. DET (Die Evangelischen Theologen) 06/23/16. On the debate bretween Teilhard de Chardin and the Catholic existentialist philosopher Gabriel Marcel. See also: The Marcel-Teilhard Debate Michael J. Latzer. New Blackfriars Vol. 82, No. 961 (March 2001), pp. 132-137.

Commentary on Teilhard de Chardin and his critics by Peter Kwasniewski.

• Teilhard’s Pseudo-Scientific Inversion of Christianity: Five Recent Writers. Tradition & Sanity 09/21/23. "Two Jesuits, two metaphysicians, and a Franciscan friar deconstructing the would-be cosmologist of a new faith."
• Gilson, Maritain, Tresmontant, Journet, and von Hildebrand on Teilhard de Chardin. Tradition & Sanity 09/14/23 "You wouldn’t necessarily know it from Vatican News, but Chardin was roundly criticized by fellow Catholic intellectuals."
• Teilhard de Chardin: A Key to Understanding Our Jesuit Pope. Tradition & Sanity 09/07/23. "Francis has proved an admirable disciple of his modernist forerunner."

A prominent critic of Teilhard de Chardin online is Dr. John P. Slattery, Director of the Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics in Science, Technology, and Law at Duquesne University.

• PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN’S LEGACY OF EUGENICS AND RACISM CAN’T BE IGNORED Religion Dispatches 05/21/18.
• Dangerous Tendencies of Cosmic Theology: The Untold Legacy of Teilhard de Chardin by John P. Slattery. Philosophy and Theology Vol. 29: No. 1. pp. 69-82, according to whom "from the 1920s until his death in 1955, Teilhard de Chardin unequivocally supported racist eugenic practices, praised the possibilities of the Nazi experiments, and looked down upon those who he deemed 'imperfect' humans."
• Teilhard de Chardin, racism and eugenics: An exchange - John P. Slattery | Juan V. Fernández de la Gala. America 08/09/23.
• Trashing Teilhard: How Not to Read a Great Religious Thinker, by John F. Haught. America 02/12/19. In which Haut responds to Slattery's article in Philosophy & Theology.
• Teilhard & Eugenics: A Response to John Haught Commonweal 03/12/19, in which Slattery concludes:

  ... it is hard to deny that Teilhard’s clear and consistent support of eugenics-related philosophies can be tied to core principles of his mature thought, especially his arguments combining physical and spiritual evolutionary development.

  I do think there is a way forward for Teilhardian research, in addition to further investigation of his ties to eugenics. I would welcome a renewed focus on Teilhard’s early mystical writings. But his support of eugenics and the related doctrine of human inequality force us to reject or readjust some interpretations of his ideas. It would be irresponsible to ignore even a tangential connection between Teilhard’s arguments and eugenics, especially at a time when CRISPR technology and widespread DNA sequencing have revived eugenics-related conversations.

  Christian theology demands, in its beautiful paradox, that we find holiness not in the strength but in the suffering of the world, and that the path to God is found by prioritizing the broken, the poor, the outcast, the marginalized, and the oppressed. I firmly believe there is a place for Teilhard in the Christian theological tradition, but there is absolutely no room for eugenics.