I am the first and the last, says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and

who is to come.1

Heraclitus once said that everything is in flux or to simply say that things are always changing. Someone who is uninitiated in philosophy would have taken this statement at face value and would have certainly agreed that this is true. But just one look at our surroundings, and no one could deny that things of today are moving in a much faster pace, a frenetic one at that. Much of this can be attributed to the rapid advancement of technology and the modernization of the world. With more sophisticated means of transportation and communication, the world keeps getting smaller and smaller. Due to this, the exchange of ideas between people of different walks of life has been become more fluid and instant. Man has certainly come a long way from the sticks and stones of his ancestors. Since the start of the modern era, much of these growth and development is brought about by the success of science. For years, science or to be exact natural science has locked horns with philosophy and theology as to what source can better deliver knowledge to humanity. For the proponents of science, they hold that science is the sole and only valid source of knowledge. Meanwhile those at the opposite extreme, the philosophers and religious figures dismiss that science only deals with impersonal objects, and consequently irrelevant to problems of personal existence and selfhood. Philosophers would argue that these problems must be approached with personal involvement, art, poetry, mysticism, religious inspiration, and revelation. There is though a middle ground that knowledge acquired through science is necessary as it is by itself insufficient but if supplemented by the insights of philosophers, poets, artists, mystics, and by religious
1

Rev. 1:8

experience becomes substantial. And this philosophical opus to whom this is dedicated is someone who stood firmly on this middle ground. He goes by the name of Teilhard de Chardin. The researcher-writer in his Fides et Ratio class, was deeply intrigued when his reverend professor mentioned the name of the priest-scientist. Since being a Christian, and a Catholic seminarian at that, the researcher-writer adheres when Pope John Paul II quoted Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Fides et Ratio:
Catholic theologians and philosophers, whose grave duty it is to defend natural and supernatural truth and instill it in human hearts, cannot afford to ignore these more or less erroneous opinions. Rather they must come to understand these theories well, not only because in the end these theories provoke a more discriminating discussion and evaluation of philosophical and theological truths.2

Upon knowing that Teilhard de Chardins works has been censored by Rome, the researcher-writer was alarmed that a Catholic priest was able to produce so dangerous a material that it did not pass censorship in Rome. But as the old saying would go, You cannot judge a book by its cover. And after scanning his The Phenomenon of Man, the researcher-writer admits that his work is truly difficult to comprehend but offers to future readers the practical solution of tolle, lege to just take and read and judge for yourself. After much struggle with the text, the researcher-writer was able to appreciate the beauty of Teilhard de Chardins writing. He is one of the courageous few who reached for a synthesis between science, philosophy, and theology. Through this synthesis, Teilhard de Chardin intended to communicate his vision of an evolving universe, illuminated by his personal religious experience and his poetic inspiration. It is such a pity that in this Catholic institution, his life and works are unnoticed. So the researcher-writer has taken upon himself to elucidate his concepts, specifically Christ as Omega Point, which the researcher-writer believes that it can make the Christian faith relevant once again in this fast-becoming scientific world.
2

Pope John Paul II. Fides et Ratio. (Paulines Publishing House, 1998) p. 89

Brief Biography Marie-Joseph-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was born on the 1st of May, 1881 in the familys house called Sarcenat in the Auvergne district of central France, a few miles from Clermont.3 He is the son of Emmanuel Teilhard with Berthe-Adele de Dompierre dHornoy, who was a collateral descendant of Voltaire. The short form of his name is Pierre Teilhard and the ending de Chardin is given by his maternal grandmother. He was the fourth in a brood of eleven. As a youth growing up in the ancient volcanic district of Auvergne, he was impressed by the majesty and durability of the extinct volcanoes. Together with his brothers and sisters, they were tutored by their father about stones, plants, and animals. Due to these circumstances, a deep passion for the things of nature, for stones and rocks, animals and plants, clouds and stars was inculcated in him. In 1899, he entered the Society of Jesus at Aix en Provence. In 1904, he continued his priestly studies on the Chanel Island of Jersey when the Jesuits were banished from France. Despite the change of scenery, he continued his deep interest in the things of nature. When going for a walk, he never left without carrying a geological hammer and magnifying glass. The Anglo-Norman island would later become a fruitful ground for his initial experiments. But it was his time teaching in Egypt that would have a lasting influence on his love for the earth. It was in Egypt that he first realized that the meaning of evolution, that the whole world is in a continuous, irresistible state of becoming, rising from a previous Less to an ever more refined More.4 He would later spend much of his life in paleontological research in China, with also sojourns to Southeast Asia and Africa. His last years were spent in New York, where he died in 1955.

3 4

Bernard Towers. Teilhard de Chardin (Virginia: John Knox Press,1967) p. 1. Joseph V. Kopp. Teilhard de Chardin: A New Synthesis of Evolution (New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1964) p.19.

Teilhards Hyperphysics Before proceeding to his concept of Christ as Omega Point, it is very much recommended to first grasp the meaning of his hyperphysics for it is the genesis of his much celebrated concept. In his hyperphysics, he explains that it is a natural and necessary extension of traditional science. But he condemns traditional science for generally restricting its investigations to only material aspects of reality and its becoming of a collection of individual and particular sciences for example, chemistry, zoology and physics. To remedy this dilemma, he proffered the solution of the conception of a science that studies all phenomena and must consider central the phenomenon of man. And this he would call his hyperphysics. But pundits would say that hyperphysics attempt to deal with man as solely as a phenomenon within the whole phenomenon is quite radical and too extreme. But through his work The Phenomenon of Man, he conveyed his view that the phenomenon of man explains all other phenomena in an evolving cosmos which culminates in man. In a greater extent, he would describe man as truly a world a very small but intricate world, a microcosmrecapitulates and mirrors the macrocosm, the ordered whole of created reality. Man, this distinctive part, stands for the whole and gives meaning to the whole.5 Albeit his hyperphysics has man as focal point, Teilhard de Chardin acknowledges that man is a product of evolution. He believes that the world is continuously evolving but no evolution is not to be understood vis--vis Charles Darwins Natural Selection Theory where variations in nature are brought forth by the survival of the fittest, but rather as a form of psychic transformation.

W. Henry Kenney, S..J. A Path Through Teilhards Phenomenon. (Ohio: Pflaum Press, 1970) p. 35.

To explain better, he classified the entire universe into three spheres: the geosphere, or the realm of inorganic matter; the biosphere, or the realm of life; and the noosphere, or the realm of the mind or consciousness. He would then call the start of evolution as cosmogenesis or the evolution of the world to life. Life is in this process go through an evolution which is called biogenesis whose termination is the arousal of the mind and the spirit. The spirit and the mind also undergo an evolution which is called noogenesis. The last phase of evolution which the researcher-writer believes is becoming prevalent in present times is what he called planetization where man begins to converge with one another in unity through small groups at first and then to a global environment. Through this classification, he is trying to show that an evolutionary progression takes place through primitive life and invertebrates to fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and finally man and this evolution, always bring with progression in consciousness. In this panorama of increasing consciousness, man is placed in the forefront for while other organisms know, man on the other hand is reflective. He knows that he knows. For further clarification, here is a diagram of Teilhard de Chardins evolution theory. noogeneis biogenesis cosmogenesis Without a doubt, this stance is very much anthropocentric. But to say that man is the proof that the cosmos is moving towards a higher degree of consciousness can be proven historically. Take for instance the primitive man and the development of the tools that he utilizes, it is quite evident that as he progresses from the stone age to the iron age, his consciousness also develops. 5

Teilhard de Chardin would even go as far as to say that the universe without man is meaningless. He would declare that man is the Privileged Axis. Joseph V. Kopp would also add that:
It is clear now that man is not only the last phase of creation, but equally the inner reason why all previous development had to happen. The rest of creation was only preparation for his habitation, making possible his existence. Man alone gives significance to every stone, every plant, every animal, indeed to the whole universe.6

But despite this emphasis on man, he is not the pinnacle of evolution. For Teilhard de Chardin, man together with the rest of the universe has only one goal and that is Christ. This Christian dimension of evolution is called Christogenesis and whose ultimate termination is Christ. Teilhard de Chardin calls this as the Omega Point. To again make the point clearer, here is another diagram: OMEGA POINT

Humanity

Material World

On this foundation and background of hyperphysics, the researcher-writer will explain Teilhard de Chardins idea of Christ as the Omega Point of evolution.

Joseph V. Kopp. Teilhard de Chardin: A New Synthesis of Evolution (New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1964) p.41.

Omega Point
The universal Christ, as I understood the name, is a synthesis of Christ and the universe. He is not a new godheadbut an inevitable deployment of the mystery in which Christianity is summed up, the mystery of the incarnation7.

In Teilhard de Chardins concept of Christ as Omega Point, he is chiefly concerned with the role of Christ in an evolving and convergent universe. But it must be pointed out that he does not reject or bypass the historical Christ, it is just that he focuses his attention on the cosmic Christ. He would further add that this cosmic Christ is present throughout the physical universe and that He exerts a force drawing all things towards a developing and convergent unity. The researcher-writer finds this viewpoint quite scriptural since there are many biblical verses that affirm this concept, for example: in Him all things hold together8, He himself fulfills all things9, Christ is everything and in everything.10 There are so many biblical texts that confirm the physical supremacy of Christ over the universe but the aforementioned texts are already strong enough affirmations. It would be helpful to remember that at the final stages of evolution comes planetization where man socializes and converges with one another which then produces a rise of collective consciousness for the human race. Teilhard de Chardin holds that this socialization is directed

7 8

Thomas Corbishley. The Spirituality of Teilhard de Chardin (Collins Clear-Type Press, 1974) p. 61. Col. 1:17 9 Col. 2:10 10 Col. 3:11

towards a final convergence point in unity with the Omega Point. He states that the FutureUniversal could not be anything else but the Hyper-Personalat the Omega Point.11 In postulating the Omega Point, Teilhard de Chardin recognizes the fact that lower consciousness states cannot give rise to higher conscious states, thus he tells us that the Omega Point draws the universe to itself. Mankind, being reflective, will therefore reach a point where it will begin, to look into himself, the very center of its collective psyche, Christ who is the Omega Point, the divine center of consciousness. In the latter part of his work, The Phenomenon of Man, Teilhard de Chardin inserts his Christian faith. His Christian view of evolution of the universe follows that:
Creation came from God, Point Alpha. It culminated, qualitatively, in man and perfects itself through the return of thinking beings to God. God-Made-Man is in this last phase of return, in other words, Omega. As God-made-Man Christ is simultaneously the axis and final goal of salvation. He is the transcendent pole toward which all souls are striving. 12

It can be concluded that the Omega Point is the end of mans ascent, the cosmic focal point toward which all humanitys mental energies are directed.13 And this ascent is inspired by a very powerful attraction, Love. And this love emanates from no other source but the Omega Point, which is Christ. In explaining the mechanics of love as the attracting force in the convergence of the cosmos with Christ, Teilhard de Chardin would point out that:
Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. This is a fact of daily experience. At what moment do lovers come into the most complete possession of themselves if not when they say they are lost in each other? In truth, does not love every instant achieve all around us, in the couple or the team, the magic feat, the feat reputed to be contradictory, of personalising by totalising? And if that is what it can achieve daily on a small scale, why should it not repeat this one day on world-wide dimensions?14

11 12

Teilhard de Chardin. The Phenomenon of Man (Harper & Row, 1965) p. 260. Joseph V. Kopp. Teilhard de Chardin: A New Synthesis of Evolution (New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1964) p. 56. 13 Ibid p. 41. 14 Teilhard de Chardin. The Phenomenon of Man (Harper & Row, 1965) p. 265.

Conclusion As Fr. W. Henry Kenney, S.J. would remark, the frequent criticism of the Phenomenon is: the scientists say it is not science, the philosophers say it is not philosophy, and the theologians say it is not theology.15 Although Teilhard de Chardins work cannot be pigeonholed into a certain kind of literature, it just shows the uniqueness of his ideas and insights that he can be branded as one of the revolutionary thinkers of modern times. Outside of the academic circles, the significance of Teilhard de Chardins The Phenomenon of Man has gone unnoticed. It is such a shame that an immensely enlightening work is not read by the wider public especially to believers of the Christian faith for it delivers the salvific truth of the Incarnation in a groundbreaking fashion for it is within an evolutionary interpretation. As Joseph V. Kopp would explain:
For millions of years nature had been preparing for the reception of grace. God had to become man in order to reincorporate in Himself the peak of evolution. Thus the goal of the cosmos and the goal of salvation are identical. From cosmogenesis came biogenesis, from biogenesis, noogenesis, and finally came Christogenesis, the crowning aim of all, as John and Paul saw it. From the cosmic viewpoint, what Father Teilhard tries to do is to take the Christ-figure out of the incredibly narrow historical frame into which it had been forced, and project it onto the universe, where Christ would become the focal point and the true perfector of evolution. He is the Lord of the cosmos. Omnia per ipsam facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil.16

His work was not just innovative but was also pioneering for Teilhard de Chardin was among the first ones to bridge the chasm between science and religion. For him, it was not just enough to break the wall of division between the two but have science charged with faith. He has said that humanity is no longer imaginable without science but science must be animated by religion. He has proposed that religion and science sojourn together in embarking a new frontier for mankind.

15 16

W. Henry Kenney, S..J. A Path Through Teilhards Phenomenon. (Ohio: Pflaum Press, 1970) p. 32. Joseph V. Kopp. Teilhard de Chardin: A New Synthesis of Evolution (New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1964) p. 58.

With the advent of modern-day technology, internet and mobile phones specifically, man is constantly in communication with his fellowman in a seemingly shrinking planet. This is quite undeniable, with the growing social network phenomenon and commodity for mobile phones as concrete manifestations. But is the World Wide Web the path to Teilhard de Chardins Omega Point? As of now, not yet, for these means are not utilized in creating awareness of Christ amongst men. Despite all the technological advancements the world has attained, collective unity and world peace are still elusive to man. But this does not mean that mans achievements are futile and a drastic return to a primitive lifestyle is needed. It is just that man should understand that his inventions should spread Christs handiwork. As Teilhard de Chardin would remind his readers:
To follow Christ is not a flight from the world, but submission to the world. Worship does not mean putting God before all things, but seeking God in and through all things, giving oneself with heart and soul to the act of creation which is taking place all the time, associating oneself with it and thus, through work and research, which, rightly viewed, is worship, to bring the world to final perfection in Point Omega. 17

17

Ibid.

10