Whitehead and de Chardin in Synthetic Thought, Part 6

Whitehead and de Chardin

in Synthetic Thought

PART 6

by R.E. Slater and ChatGPT

March 31, 2025

I cannot elaborate enough that de Chardin's philosophic thought is more theological than philosophical making it more limited in its philosophical framework and pointedly specific in its ontology. As a Christian, I greatly sympathize with de Chardin's effort to Christologize all reality into the Person and Work of Christ (in de Chardin's terms, a cosmic Christogenesis of God's work). However, to be a sufficient metaphysic we must insist on Whitehead's process philosophy from which a processual theology can be derived.

I suspect Whitehead had a number of reasons for developing his philosophical structure but one of those reasons may have been his interest in providing a theistic framework on which to set a philosophical structure which might resonate not only with Christianity but perhaps with all religious affiliations. It is also one of the reasons I am attracted to Whitehead and have been furthering his work in the area of Process Theology. In affect, I am "de Chardin-izing" Whitehead without betraying Whitehead's integral structure (ahem, not "de" but "de-" as in the name).

Further, philosophy has always been the bedrock upon which theology rests. It is never the other way around. True, each may influence the other as I think of process philosophy had in it's influence on process theology (and, vice versa). So it is not inconceivable that as Whitehead developed his processual metaphysic and ontology he was also simultaneously birthing processual theology within his philosophic structure. Why? Because it is nearly impossible to betray our inner selves and Whitehead, if nothing else, was seeking concepts and words to describe God and God's universe as a 19th Century Victorian Christian (Feb 15, 1861 - Dec 30, 1947).

My further suspicion is that the French Jesuit priest, de Chardin, had placed first-and-foremost his Christian theology when creating a pseudo-philosophic structure around the primacy of Jesus Christ. Again, I applaud his view in this matter as I had been trained in my own theology to do the same thing. But again, it only goes one way: philosophy begets theology - and not the other way around. Hence, Whitehead's process-relational panentheistic philosophic structure always lies under Whitehead's process-based metaphysic of "Creativity" or "Creative Becoming" which is the most fundamental principle of reality.

Not the Person of Christ, nor a theistic force such as the Christian God, nor even God's very Self - but the abstract concept of "creativity". Creativity is the metaphysical condition which allows everything to "become" or "have the capacity of becoming." In Whitehead's words, "All actual occasions are expressions of creativity."

But from this metaphysical principle one may say that God is the Chief Actual Entity which embodies or exemplifies the metaphysical principle of "creativity." Which means that God holds all pure possibilities (sic, eternal objects); which are initial aims for each becoming event; and provides the very potentiality for any-and-all possibilities. Hence, God is the Ontological Exemplar of Creativity. Creativity would not be creativity if it were not for God. One could say that when God became so was birthed creativity; which correlates with Christian thought that God ever was and hence, so was creativity as a metaphysic principle or property.

Said in another way, in Whitehead, "creativity" is the metaphysical "stuff" of becoming but GOD is the clearest, most integrated and complete instance of creativity. Why? Because God initiates potentiality (the primordial nature of God); God feels all that is becoming (the Consequent nature of God); and God sustains all cosmic order and possibility over chaos. Thus and thus, God is the living embodiment of creativity - not outside or above it but its most elegant instantiation.

In summary, creativity is the ground of all becoming. Actual occasions are the localized expressions of creativity; and God is the exemplar of creativity - both uniquely expressing creativity's potentiality as well as its actualized relational fulfillment.

Creativity then is the language of philosophy expressing ideas; whereas theology is the language of personages such as a deity from which or whom ideas are expressed. Whitehead is creating a philosophic language in which theological language might be expressed.

Hence, creativity is not above God but God's mode of divine action. Nor is God less than creativity, but its personal, loving, and guiding reality; which is to say that God is both the heart and mind of creativity itself.

R.E. Slater

March 31, 2025

A Christian-Process Synthesis Statement:

• God is the divine wellspring from which all creative becoming flows.
• As the Loving Source, God envisions every possibility.
• As the Faithful Companion, God feels every outcome.
• As the Cosmic Christ, God draws all things forward in love and transformation.

ADDENDUM

Me to ChatGPT:

It seems that the problem of "priory" may lie between the demands of philosophy as a logical system of reasoning versus that of theology as a systematic expression of religious belief. Each comes at reality differently requiring its own syllogistic framework. More simplistically, one expresses ideas while the other expresses personages or deities.

ChatGPT said:

Yes—you’ve struck the heart of the tension that so often arises when bridging philosophy and theology, especially in the case of someone like Whitehead who was crafting a deeply metaphysical system, yet left an opening for theological reconfiguration.

---

Philosophy vs. Theology: Two Modes of Approach

1. Philosophy:

• Operates with conceptual abstraction, logical consistency, and universality.

• It seeks the principles behind reality: What is ultimate? How does becoming occur?

• Whiteheadian terms like Creativity, Actual Occasion, or Eternal Object are intentionally non-personal.

• Whitehead’s system emphasizes structures and processes without dependence on religious narratives.

2. Theology:

• Speaks in the language of personhood, revelation, worship, and relational encounter.

• It deals with ultimate meaning through divine agency: God, Christ, Spirit, covenant, grace.

• Theological language aims not just to describe reality but to transform the human spirit and community.

---

Tension & Translation

This creates a kind of translational challenge:

So when Whitehead says:

“God is not the ultimate, but the chief exemplification of the ultimate.”

A theologian might rephrase:

“God is the personal expression of the very ground of being, through which all becoming takes place.”

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A Metamodern Resolution

A metamodern synthesis might say:

• Philosophy names the structure. Theology names the presence.

• One speaks of becoming, the other of belonging.

• Yet both attempt to describe the living mystery that is the world becoming whole.

---

A Final Thought

Philosophy offers the frame while theology fills it with presence.

• Whitehead’s Creativity may be the grammar of becoming.

• But for the Christian imagination, God is the poet who sings the world into being with love and purpose.

Continue to A Metamodern Synthesis between Teilhard de Chardin's

Cosmic Christ and Whitehead's Process Thought, Part 7

de Chardin's Cosmic Christ is but a Subset within Whiteheadian Process Thought, Part 5

Van Gogh, Starry Night

de Chardin's Cosmic Christ is but a Subset

within Whiteheadian Process Thought

PART 5

by R.E. Slater and ChatGPT

March 31, 2025

Teilhard de Chardin's Christological Omega Point

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest and paleontologist, proposed a bold vision of evolution that fuses science, mysticism, and theology. Central to his cosmology is the Omega Point—a concept representing the final stage of evolution where consciousness converges in divine union.

KEYTHEMES

1. Evolution as Convergent and Consciousness-Driven
   Teilhard envisioned evolution not merely as biological but as cosmic and psychic—progressing toward increasing complexity, consciousness, and unity. Matter, he believed, is infused with a radial energy—a spiritual dimension pushing toward higher forms of self-awareness.

2. Noogenesis
   Humanity marks the phase of noogenesis, the birth of reflective thought, which transforms evolution into a self-aware process. This process accelerates through socialization, technology, and spiritual awakening, preparing the way for the Omega Point.

3. The Omega Point as Christ
   The Omega Point is not abstract; it is Christ as the cosmic fulfillment of all things. This Christ is not confined to the historical Jesus but represents divine love and unifying presence, drawing creation toward its consummation in God.

4. Resonance with Process Thought
   We noted the congruence with Whiteheadian process philosophy:

   • Both affirm an evolving cosmos.

   • Both emphasize divine lure and creative advance into novelty.

   • Teilhard’s Omega Point and Whitehead’s Primordial Nature of God serve similar teleological roles, drawing all toward increasing value and harmony.

5. Critiques and Challenges

   • Teilhard has been critiqued for teleological determinism—suggesting that evolution has a fixed end.

   • His optimism about technology and collective consciousness may seem naive in the face of ecological crisis and social fragmentation.

   • However, when placed within a Whiteheadian process-relational framework, de Chardin's vision becomes more dynamic and open-ended—less about inevitability and more about possibility.

6. Metamodern Implications
   In light of metamodern sensibilities—oscillating between hope and doubt—Teilhard’s Omega Point can be reframed as a co-creative possibility, not a guarantee. Humanity must participate in the shaping of this convergent future through compassion, justice, and planetary cooperation.

Question: How similar or dissimilar is de chardin's mystic view of Christ to process philosophy and theology?

ChatGPT said:

The mystic view of Christ in Teilhard de Chardin's work shares some similarities with process philosophy and theology, but also has notable differences. Here’s a breakdown:

SIMILARITIES

1. Cosmological and Evolutionary Framework:

• Both Teilhard de Chardin’s mysticism and process philosophy emphasize a dynamic, evolving universe. For de Chardin, Christ represents the Omega Point, the ultimate goal of the evolutionary process toward greater complexity and unity. This resonates with process theology's idea of the "Divine lure", where God calls creation towards greater complexity and fulfillment.

• Process philosophy, particularly through figures like Alfred North Whitehead, emphasizes the processual nature of reality, where everything is in constant flux and development, much like Teilhard’s understanding of the universe evolving towards a unifying point of divine fulfillment.

• Teilhard envisions the universe evolving toward ever-greater complexity and consciousness, ultimately culminating in the Omega Point, where Christ becomes the unifying center of all being.

• Process theology, grounded in Whitehead’s metaphysics, sees the universe as a series of becoming events drawn by God’s persuasive lure toward increased beauty, value, and intensity of experience.

1. Immanence of God:

   • Both perspectives see God as immanent in the world, guiding and participating in the unfolding of creation. In de Chardin’s view, Christ is present in every part of the universe, drawing it toward its divine fulfillment. Similarly, process theology views God as deeply involved in the unfolding process of the world, working within the world to inspire growth, order, and harmony.

2. Christ as a Cosmic Principle:

   • In de Chardin’s mysticism, Christ is not just a personal savior but also a cosmic figure — the Christogenesis or the principle by which the universe reaches its ultimate unity. This connects with process theology's idea of God as both a personal presence and a guiding cosmic force. Christ, for de Chardin, is the focal point of the universe's evolutionary trajectory, and this aligns with process theology’s understanding of God's role as a co-creator with the world.

DIFFERENCES

1. Christ's Role in Creation:

   • Teilhard de Chardin viewed Christ as the singular or ultimate point of convergence for all of creation’s evolutionary journey — the Omega Point. His Christology is highly ontological, rooted in an theistic understanding of cosmic evolution.

   • Process theology, however, does not necessarily view Christ as the sole focus of cosmic evolution but as a key participant in the unfolding divine process wherein all creation works with Christ towards relational becoming. In Whitehead’s framework, Christ (or the Christ Principle) is seen as an aspect of God's interaction with the world rather than the singular focus of cosmic progression.

2. The Nature of God and Creation:

   • Teilhard’s view is more panentheistic — God is both within and beyond creation, and Christ is the divine principle that encapsulates the unity of the world’s evolutionary ascent.

   • In process thought, God is also panentheistic but the emphasis is often on God’s dynamic relationship with the world. God is understood to both suffer with creation and persuade it toward greater good, with Christ being an incarnation of this divine process.

3. Eschatology:

   • Teilhard de Chardin’s eschatology is highly optimistic, seeing the entire universe ultimately converging in the Christ at the Omega Point — a kind of final cosmic unity and perfection. This view has a very teleological (goal-oriented) aspect to it.

   • Process theology, while hopeful, often rejects a strict end-point of perfection. The future in process thought is more open-ended, with the possibility for ongoing transformation and growth, and doesn’t always adhere to the idea of a final cosmic goal in the way de Chardin envisioned.

CONCLUSION

While Teilhard de Chardin’s mystic view of Christ and process theology share a cosmic and evolutionary framework and a deep sense of divine immanence, Teilhard’s Christology is more ontological, esoteric, and teleological, whereas process theology offers a more relational and open-ended view of God's involvement in the world. The integration of Christ into the evolutionary process, central to de Chardin’s thought, parallels process philosophy's idea of God’s involvement in creation but differs in its scope and finality.

You said:

Please elaborate, as this difference seems to be very similar to process theology, however, does not necessarily view Christ as the sole focus of cosmic evolution but as a key participant in the unfolding divine process. In Whitehead’s framework, Christ (or the Christ Principle) is seen as an aspect of God's interaction with the world rather than the singular focus of cosmic progression."

ChatGPT said:

I understand that the distinctions between Teilhard de Chardin's mystic view of Christ and process theology can appear nuanced. Let's delve deeper into these differences to clarify.

Teilhard de Chardin's Perspective:

Teilhard de Chardin envisioned Christ as the Omega Point, the ultimate culmination of the evolutionary process. In his view, the entire cosmos is moving toward increased complexity and consciousness, culminating in a final unification in Christ. This perspective positions Christ not only as central but as the definitive endpoint of cosmic evolution—a singular focus toward which all creation converges. Teilhard described this as the "universalized Heart of Christ" coinciding with the heart of matter transformed by love. ​Tradition In Action

Process Theology's Perspective:

Process theology, influenced by Alfred North Whitehead's philosophy, portrays God as dynamically interacting with the world. In this framework, God presents possibilities to creation, guiding it toward greater value and complexity without predetermining a final outcome [except as that outcome resonates with the Beingness & Becomingness of God as reflected in process thought. - re slater]

Christ, within process theology, embodies a profound instance of divine participation in the world, exemplifying how individuals can align with God's aims. However, Christ is viewed as a key participant rather than the sole focus or endpoint of cosmic evolution. The divine interaction is ongoing, with no singular culmination point, emphasizing a continuous process of becoming.

Key Distinctions:

1. Role in Evolutionary Process:

   • Teilhard de Chardin: Christ is the predetermined goal (Omega Point) of the evolutionary journey, serving as the ultimate unifying principle toward which all creation moves.​

   • Process Theology: Christ exemplifies alignment with divine purposes but is one of many participants in an open-ended evolutionary process without a fixed endpoint.​

2. Nature of Divine Interaction:

   • Teilhard de Chardin: Emphasizes a teleological progression with Christ as the central, unifying figure guiding creation toward a specific culmination.​

   • Process Theology: Highlights a relational and dynamic interaction where God influences creation by offering possibilities, allowing for free response and an indeterminate future.​

3. Eschatological Outlook:

   • Teilhard de Chardin: Presents an eschatology where the cosmos achieves ultimate unity and fulfillment in Christ.​

   • Process Theology: Suggests an open-ended future with continuous opportunities for growth and transformation, without a definitive endpoint.​

In summary, while both perspectives acknowledge Christ's significance in the evolutionary narrative, Teilhard de Chardin positions Christ as the singular, ultimate goal of cosmic evolution. In contrast, process theology views Christ as a pivotal example of divine-human synergy within an ongoing, open-ended process, emphasizing continual becoming over a predetermined culmination.

Continue to Whitehead and de Chardin in Synthetic Thought, Part 6

A Comparison between de Chardin and Whitehead's Structural Frameworks, Part 4

A Comparison between de Chardin and

Whitehead's Structural Frameworks

PART 4

by R.E. Slater and ChatGPT

March 31, 2025

METAPHYSICS

Teilhard de Chardin:

• Reality evolves upward, driven by an inner principle of convergence.
• This principle is spiritual energy, which draws all things toward unity in God.
• Evolution is meaningful and directional because it ends in Christic fulfillment.

Whitehead:

• Reality is an organic process of becoming, not linear or convergent.
• Each actual occasion includes the past (via prehension), novelty, and a subjective aim toward intensity or value.
• The universe has a teleology of creativity, but not a fixed endpoint.

ONTOLOGY

Teilhard de Chardin:

• Ontology is hierarchical and teleological—moving from matter to life to thought to spirit.
• Emphasizes substance ontology evolving toward higher complexity and consciousness.
• The “within” of things (interiority or consciousness) deepens as complexity increases.
• Everything is converging toward a final unity: the Omega Point, which is both a metaphysical destiny and identified with the Cosmic Christ.

Metaphysical Goal - All evolution culminates in spiritual unification in Christ—history moves toward one ultimate center.

Whitehead:

• Ontology is based on actual occasions or drops of experience—not substances, but processes.
• The cosmos is a pluriverse of events related through prehension (experience), not a single convergent destiny.
• Reality is relational, internally complex, and indeterminately unfolding.
• God is not the terminus of evolution but the lure toward creative transformation.

Metaphysical Goal - To describe the becoming of reality through internal relations, novelty, and creativity—without requiring convergence.

THEOLOGY AND COSMOLOGY

Teilhard de Chardin:

• Deeply rooted in Christian eschatology.
• God = Omega Point, pulling creation forward.
• The noosphere (realm of thought/consciousness) emerges as a higher level over the biosphere.
• Christ is cosmic: the meaning and culmination of the universe.

Whitehead:

• God has two natures: primordial (envisioning all potentiality) and consequent (feeling and responding to the actual world).
• God is not beyond time, but in time—interacting with the world through persuasive love.
• No predetermined “end” or Omega Point—creativity itself is the ultimate metaphysical principle.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTARY

While Teilhard believes in convergence, unity, and a preordained cosmic goal his [Christian] metaphysic is infused with hopeful mysticism and a [Christ-centered] salvific trajectory.

Whitehead, while spiritual [cf. panpsychic panentheism] is open-ended. The cosmos is not guaranteed a perfect end yet each moment matters as it drives towards a complex web of ongoing co-creation. He gives every entity value [cf. Whitehead's process of axiology = ethics and morality], not because it reaches an endpoint, but because it exists in relation and potential to the cosmos' overall evolutionary design = cosmic teleology [to the God of the universe and the Christ of theology: sic, Process Theology]

SUMMARY THOUGHTS

Teilhard gives us a vision of evolutionary ascent, grounded in unity, love, and divine destiny while Whitehead gives us a framework for valuing each event of becoming as it relates, feels, and contributes to the beauty of the whole.

In many ways both de Chardin and Whitehead have contributed to one another's overall dynamic schema of processual becoming: de Chardin's theology concentrates on a Christian emphasis to Whitehead's more philosophic emphasis that is infused with salvific Christian ideology.

In de Chardin we find a theological emphasis than we do a philosophical structure and in Whitehead we find a mature philosophical rigor from which a mature processual theology can arise which can elevate all global religions from there metaphysics to their axiological outcomes of love and justice.

Consequently, Whitehead's structure then is more pervasive and missional than de Chardin's Christian-only emphasis.

Continue to de Chardin's Cosmic Christ is but a Subset

within Whiteheadian Process Thought, Part 5

Describing Whitehead's Metaphysics and Ontology, Part 3

Describing Whitehead's

Metaphysics & Ontology

PART 3

by R.E. Slater & ChatGPT

March 31, 2025

I - What is the Philosophical Relationship Between Ontology and Metaphysics?

Ontology is the study of being. It is a core branch of metaphysics. Metaphysics is the broader study of the nature of reality, encompassing topics like existence, space, time, and the fundamental structure of the universe.

Metaphysics

• Definition - Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that explores the fundamental nature of reality, including questions about existence, being, space, time, causality, and the relationship between mind and matter.

• Scope - Metaphysics delves into abstract concepts and seeks to understand the underlying structure and principles of the universe.

• Examples of Metaphysical Questions - What is the nature of reality? Does the world exist independently of our minds? What is the meaning of life? Is there a God? Do we have free will?

Ontology

• Definition - Is a sub-branch of metaphysics, specifically focuses on the study of being, existence, and the nature of what exists.

• Scope - It examines the fundamental categories of existence, such as substance, property, relation, and fact.

• Examples of Ontological Questions - What are the fundamental types of entities that exist? What does it mean for something to exist? What are the relationships between different types of entities? Are there abstract objects (like numbers or concepts) that exist?

Relationship between Ontology and Metaphysics

• Ontology can be seen as a more specific and focused inquiry within the broader field of metaphysics.

• Metaphysics provides the general framework for understanding reality, while ontology delves into the specific nature of being and existence.

• In simpler terms, metaphysics asks "what is real?", while ontology asks "what exists?"

Ontology = What reality is made of
Metaphysics = How and why it unfolds the way it does

2 - Describing Whitehead's Metaphysic and Ontology

While ontology asks “What exists?”, metaphysics asks “What is the nature of existence?” This then would be the deeper philosophic logic, structure or framework behind Whitehead's processual ontological being and becoming.

Further, Whitehead’s Ontology describes the building blocks of reality - events, relations, processes, and possibilities whereas Whitehead’s Metaphysic explains the deeper structures of reality - why and how those events come to be, evolve, and carry value.

Reality is the creative advance into novelty.

- Albert North Whitehead

WHITEHEAD'S METAPHYSIC

• Creativity as the ultimate metaphysical principle. Ex: Evolutionary processes are highly creative from cosmology to biology.
• God as the unifying and relational pole of possibility and actuality
• The process of becoming is more fundamental than actual being-ness.

Key Concepts:

Creativity

• The ultimate metaphysical principle—the driving force behind all becoming.
• Not a being, but the power of process itself.

Process of Becoming

• Actual occasions are events, not things.
• The universe unfolds through ongoing acts of becoming.

God

• Has two natures:
• Primordial: holds all eternal possibilities.
• Consequent: responds to the world, feeling and valuing its unfolding.
• God is the lure for creative transformation, not a coercive power.

Value and Novelty

• The cosmos aims for intensity of experience—beauty, harmony, novelty.
• Every act of becoming contributes aesthetic value to the whole.

Summary

Whitehead’s metaphysic explains how everything becomes through a creative, relational process. At its heart is Creativity, shaped by God’s persuasive guidance and the world’s responses. Reality is not static—it’s a living, evolving cosmos, always becoming something new.

WHITEHEAD'S ONTOLOGY

1. Actual Occasions

• The fundamental units of reality are not things, but events called actual occasions—moments of experience.
• Everything that exists is in a process of becoming.

2. Prehension

• Actual occasions relate to one another through prehension—the way one event feels or grasps other events.
• This includes both physical and conceptual prehensions (e.g., sensing vs. imagining).

3. Concrescence

• Each actual occasion concresces (gathers together) all prehensions into a unified experience. Essentially, there is a processual teleology deep within Whiteheadian process.
• This is how novelty and value emerge.

4. Eternal Objects

• These are pure potentials (like forms or possibilities) that actual occasions can realize.
• Eternal Objects are always contextualized within process.

5. Creativity

• The ultimate metaphysical principle. All becoming is an expression of creativity, realized through actual occasions.

6. God is a unique actual entity with two poles:

• Primordial: contains all eternal objects as possibilities.
• Consequent: feels and responds to the world’s actualities.

Summary

Reality is a network of interrelated experiences, not static substances. Every entity is a momentary process that prehends others, contributes novelty, and becomes part of a living, evolving cosmos.

"All events and occasions become and are becoming."

- Whitehead in a nutshell

Continue to A Comparison between de Chardin and

Whitehead's Structural Frameworks, Part 4

The Incarnational Cosmic Christ, Part 2

The Incarnational Cosmic Christ

PART 2

by R.E. Slater and ChatGPT

March 31, 2025

de Chardin's Relationship

with Process Theology

I am reiterating Teilhard de Chardin's (TdC) view of the Cosmic Christ here below. At times close to Whitehead's process thought in many components, de Chardin's Catholic view was more vitalist in approach positing a muscular psycho-spiritual form of teleology into evolutionary progress.

In the past, as well as the present, both Catholic and Protestant beliefs have struggled with accepting Darwinian evolution - which viewpoint the French Jesuit priest de Chardin promoted, stating that all creation was moving towards an "Omega Point" in Christ. A theological statement which a Christ-centered process theology would be sympathetic towards. However, de Chardin's metaphysic is more theological than it is philosophic thus making it much less broad than Whitehead's process metaphysic (I will explain what I mean by this in the next several articles). For now, here are a few observations leading into de Chardin's "Incarnational Cosmic Christ."

At the center of TdC's philosophy was the belief that the human species is evolving spiritually, progressing from a simple faith to higher and higher forms of consciousness, including a consciousness of God, and culminating in the ultimate understanding of humankind's place and purpose in the universe.

SIMILARITIES

Creation as Christo-Centric:

Both Teilhard de Chardin and Whitehead's process philosophy / theology emphasized a dynamic, evolving universe and a God who is immanent in creation.

But their views of Christ and the nature of the divine differ significantly, with process theology understanding Christ as God's divine agent responding to God's call of creation, while Teilhard sees Christ as the cosmic center of evolution.

Emphasis on Evolution and a Dynamic Universe:

Both Teilhard and process thinkers see the universe as a dynamic, evolving process, and not as a static entity.

Immanence of God:

Both emphasize God's presence and involvement in the world, rather than as a distant, diffident and transcendent God.

Cosmic Christ:

Both view Christ as having a cosmic significance, not just a historical or local one. 

Cosmological and Evolutionary Framework:

Both Teilhard de Chardin’s mysticism and process philosophy emphasize a dynamic evolving universe. For de Chardin, Christ represents the Omega Point, the ultimate goal of the evolutionary process toward greater complexity and unity. This resonates with process theology's idea of the "Divine lure," where God calls creation towards greater complexity and fulfillment.

Process philosophy, particularly through figures like Alfred North Whitehead, emphasizes the processual nature of reality, where everything is in constant flux and development, much like Teilhard’s understanding of the universe evolving towards a unifying point of divine fulfillment.

Immanence of God:

Both perspectives see God as immanent in the world, guiding and participating in the unfolding of creation. In de Chardin’s view, Christ is present in every part of the universe, drawing it toward its divine fulfillment. Similarly, process theology views God as deeply involved in the unfolding process of the world, working within the world to inspire growth, order, and harmony.

Christ as a Cosmic Principle:

In de Chardin’s mysticism, Christ is not just a personal savior but also a cosmic figure — the Christogenesis or the principle by which the universe reaches its ultimate zenith or unity. This connects with process theology's idea of God as both a personal presence and a guiding cosmic force. Christ, for de Chardin, is the focal point of the universe's evolutionary trajectory, and this aligns with process theology’s understanding of God's role as a co-creator with the world.

DIFFERENCES

Christ's Role in Creation:

• Teilhard de Chardin viewed Christ as the ultimate point of convergence for all of creation’s evolutionary journey — the Omega Point. His Christology is highly metaphysical, rooted in an esoteric understanding of cosmic evolution.

• Process theology, however, does not necessarily view Christ as the sole focus of cosmic evolution but as a necessary and key participant in the unfolding divine process. In Whitehead’s framework, Christ (or the Christ Principle) is seen as a significant aspect of God's interaction with the world rather than the singular focus of cosmic progression.

• This then forces the question, "What does the person of Christ (not the work of Christ) mean in a philosophical v theological sense? That is, "How is Christ the objective end of the universe? In theological language it is readily apparent but in philosophical language process thought must go beyond the ontology of the Person to the metaphysic itself - which in God, is one-and-the-same, envisioning a dance of symmantics. Which is why de Chardin's Christogenic OmegaPoint can be seen as sympathetic to process thought though limiting in its metaphysical reach (again, I will explain in several follow up articles).

The Nature of God and Creation:

• Teilhard’s view is more panentheistic — God is both within and beyond creation, and Christ is the divine principle that encapsulates the unity of the world’s evolutionary ascent.

• In process thought, God is also panentheistic but the emphasis is often on God’s dynamic relationship with the world. God is understood to both suffer with creation while persuading it toward greater good, with Christ being an incarnation of this divine process.

Teleologic Eschatology:

• Teilhard de Chardin’s eschatology is highly optimistic, seeing the entire universe ultimately converging in the Christ at the Omega Point — a kind of final cosmic unity and perfection. This view has a very teleological (goal-oriented) aspect to it.

• Process theology, while hopeful, often rejects a strict end-point of perfection. The future in process thought is more open-ended, with the possibility for ongoing transformation and growth, and doesn’t always adhere to the idea of a final cosmic goal in the way de Chardin envisioned.

CONCLUSION

While Teilhard de Chardin’s mystic view of Christ and process theology share a very close cosmic and evolutionary framework along with a deep sense of divine immanence, Teilhard’s Christology is more metaphysical, esoteric, and teleological, whereas process theology offers a more relational and open-ended view of God's involvement in the world. The integration of Christ into the evolutionary process, central to de Chardin’s thought, parallels process philosophy's idea of God’s involvement in creation but differs in its scope and finality.

R.E. Slater

March 31, 2025

Continue to Describing Whitehead's Metaphysics & Ontology, Part 3

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de Chardin's Relationship

with the Catholic Church

Summary:

While the Catholic Church previously issued a monitum (warning) against Teilhard de Chardin's writings in 1962, there's a growing trend of positive recognition and engagement with his ideas, including references by multiple popes, though a formal rehabilitation remains absent. Here's a more detailed breakdown:

Initial Condemnation:

In 1962, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the Holy Office) issued a monitum against Teilhard de Chardin's writings, citing "dangerous ambiguities and grave errors". 

Shift in Perspective:

Despite the initial warning, there's been a noticeable shift in the Church's perspective on Teilhard, with multiple popes making positive references to his work. 

Pope Francis's Influence:

Pope Francis, in particular, has been quoted as referencing Teilhard's writings, including in "Laudato Si'," which has led to speculation about a potential rehabilitation of Teilhard's work. 

Positive Recognition:

Scholars from the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture have noted Teilhard's "prophetic vision," and some supporters have called for him to be named a Doctor of the Church or for the monitum to be removed. 

Ongoing Dialogue:

The Church continues to engage with Teilhard's ideas, with the opening of the Teilhard de Chardin Center in a Paris suburb serving as a place for dialogue between science, philosophy, and spirituality. 

No Formal Rehabilitation:

While there are positive signs, the Church has not formally reversed the 1962 monitum or declared Teilhard a Doctor of the Church. 

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de Chardin's COSMIC CHRIST

REFORMULATING THE CLASSICAL FAITH

Published in The Furrow, April 2024

by Hilda Geraghty

The article presents an overview, in thumb-nail sketches, of new perspectives in theology as it meets today’s cosmic worldview. It offers a dynamic, holistic view of creation, emphasizing the interconnectedness of all existence. It offers the notion of a universal imperfection and the concept of a very human Christ, along with cosmic dimensions of the Eucharist. The emphasis on unity, collective consciousness, and the need for a goal to energize the world lead to a hope-filled conclusion.

Theology is a vast field of study, but at the cutting edge its perspectives are beginning to embrace the newly-discovered dimensions of reality. Interdisciplinary approaches, where science and faith embrace, are revealing a beautiful and unifying story that is hope-inspiring and energising for the human task of building the world, even as it offers us breathtaking vistas for worship. When the ground under them moves from static to dynamic, and expands to almost infinite space-time, the core Christian mysteries of Creation, Fall, Incarnation, Redemption, Resurrection and Pleroma, become transposable like melodies into a new key, without losing anything of their integrity.

[*Pleroma - 1. (in Gnosticism) the spiritual universe as the abode of God and of the totality of the divine powers and emanations. 2. (in Christian theology) the totality or fullness of the Godhead which dwells in Christ.]

A TRANSFORMED VIEW OF CREATION

The first of these is the new perspective on creation, which, as we now know, began in deep time, around fourteen billion years ago.  The history of the universe, from elementary quantum particles generated in the ‘big bang’ to the furthest reaches of space, is one single vast process, that is, one great story.  The result is that we have moved from a human-centred view of creation, where we saw ourselves as Lords and Masters of a static world, to a cosmic awareness in which we are one part of a great unfolding story. Teilhard de Chardin writes:

“Humankind is not the centre of the universe, as we once thought in our simplicity, but something much more wonderful - the arrow pointing the way to the final unification of the world in terms of life.  The human alone constitutes the last-born, the freshest, the most complicated, the most subtle of all the successive layers of life.” (1)

THE WHOLE GREATER THAN ITS PARTS

The beauty of this cosmic story is that it hangs together as a whole.  We now realise that nothing or no one exists on its own. Creation is a Whole, and is greater than the sum of its parts.  Moreover, this cosmic story is dynamic, in a continuous movement of development, known as evolution. Creation is on-going.

There is a basic oneness about the nature of reality itself:  matter and energy are now seen as different forms of the same thing, and energy is a form of spirit.  “Foundational to the quantum worldview is the perception that everything in creation is energy.  It is all that is- and everything that is.  Empty space is full of creative energy; the perceived emptiness is actually a fulness.“ (2)

The universe is actually a spiritual reality, and we no longer divide it into such categories as spiritual and material, sacred and secular, superior and inferior.  All of creation is holy, and all our lives can be holy when lived in deep cooperation with the Whole.

THE CREATIVE BREATH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

These advances in creation theology focus with new appreciation on the Holy Spirit, the creative Breath of God, who continually brings all things into being. We understand the Holy Spirit “as the primary manifestation of the divine in our earthly-human awareness, and as the first intuitive and mystical insight into the meaning of God.” (3) The great Holy Spirit has always breathed life into creation from the beginning of time, and the human calling is now seen as co-creating with the Spirit. “God does not so much make things as make them make themselves.” (4) The immanence of God in the world is being freshly appreciated, drawing us into deeper intimacy with the Divine Presence in all things.   Pope Francis reminds us that “If the universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely … there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face.”  (5)

THE DEEP INCARNATION OF CHRIST

In this awesome perspective theologians are coming to describe the Christ event as ‘Deep Incarnation’.  Jesus is not seen as coming to the universe ‘from outside’, as it were, but that, like every other life form, he too in his human nature emerges organically from nature’s deep time as a Homo Sapiens, made of star dust and fruit of aeons of development.  The birth of Christ is the whole reason for the world to exist, and the growth of Christ is its business.  In the words of Teilhard de Chardin: 

“God did not will individually the sun, the earth, plants, or humanity.  God willed His Christ.  And in order to have Christ, God had to create the spiritual world and humanity in particular, upon which Christ might germinate.  And to have humanity God had to launch the vast process of organic life which is an essential organ of the world.  And the birth of that organic life called for the entire cosmic turbulence…” (6) A little later he continues “…Christ is so engrained in the visible world that Christ could henceforth be torn away from it only by rocking the foundations of the universe.” (7)

UNIVERSAL IMPERFECTION

In the new perspectives the understanding of ‘original sin’ morphs from being a once-off choice by an initial pair of humans that somehow blighted everyone, to the defective state of a species, a whole world still in formation, still unfinished.  It can be seen as universal imperfection, or a slowness to make the effort to evolve further.  In that view, the story of Adam and Eve illustrates our on-going reality: it is a portrait of human nature, of people still on their way to God, who do not want to listen to their conscience (‘voice of God’).  Paradise lies up ahead at the term of our collective evolution, rather than lost behind us in an actual past history. “Evolution is a laborious process… of trying things out, so that disaster, pain, suffering and death necessarily go with it.  In a world of this sort evil is no accident… It is an essential aspect of an evolutionary process which has to pick its way through a maze of errors and misplaced efforts. Since God willed to create a world that must grow to its completion via an evolution, imperfection and evil were bound to occur in this creation.  It could not be otherwise.” (8)

IN WHAT SENSE A SAVIOUR?

Because evil is so endemic, the world stands in radical need of salvation.  Salvation by Christ therefore also has cosmic dimensions.  In this context ‘salvation’ means that humanity, individually and collectively, is brought on-course in the evolutionary journey, as opposed to getting derailed and failing to reach our fulfilment in God (Omega). Through incarnating in this world Jesus, the Divine Human, inevitably meets this shadow side of creation and, as we would expect him to, tackles it head on.  However he does so in a totally counter-intuitive way.  In him evil meets love and is defeated by it, the only energy capable of doing so.  

John the Baptist had defined Jesus as the Lamb of God, -not the Lion, or the Bull, or the Eagle,  but the Lamb, gentle and vulnerable.  In his passion and death Jesus stands before us as God’s sign, the One sent by God, as he self-identified at his trial before the Sanhedrin and before the world.  By accepting and suffering the cross we imposed on him, Jesus places Godself in the position to forgive sin, since to forgive something you must have suffered it.  He thus restores the relationship between God and our repentant selves. As the Lamb who forgives the sins of the world Jesus makes evolution his cause and becomes its very soul, leading the human race forward through love towards a mysterious destiny. This will be when humanity finally unifies in love, focused on Omega-God.  This process too is on-going.  Repenting-forgiving love is what repairs the ever-breaking, ever-wounding, ever-falling Whole on its journey, and Jesus calls his followers in turn to channel this healing energy into life at all levels.  

Relationality is key.  In the new perspectives ‘sin’ is seen as letting down the Whole, in my/our patch of reality by damaging or breaking relationships in a multitude of ways. ‘Hell’ is the fact that there is nowhere good to go if a person breaks away from the Whole through serious unrepented wrongdoing.  ‘Holiness’ is personal evolution into love, as individuals grow towards Omega.  ‘Heaven’ begins now as we live love, sharing the mission of the Lamb. 

THE RESSURECTION OF CHRIST

The resurrection is God’s great sign, vindicating Jesus’ claim to be indeed the One sent by God, and the victory of love over evil.  It shows that to love, repent and forgive are wisdom, not foolishness.   In the risen flesh of Christ matter has become spiritualised, pointing to a future resurrection of all in Christ, when heaven and earth are drawn into union, the mysterious pleroma [fulness, completion].  “And I will raise them up on the last day.”  (Jn 6, 52) This, then, will complete the unfinished story. So, with proper balance, the Christ event is seen not only as repairing broken relationships, but as leading this world towards its final fulfilment in a love that converges in Omega.  “The essence of Christianity is nothing more or less than a belief in the world’s coming to be one in God, through the taking of human nature by Christ.” (9)

THE VERY HUMAN CHRIST

The Incarnation of Christ enacts the supreme meaning of the universe, and yet Jesus, the Divine Human, is not lost as an individual in this vast perspective.  By living normally for ninety per cent of his short life, working for eighteen of his thirty-three years at his carpenter’s bench, Jesus is seen as endorsing our human vocation to build the earth through work.  The new theology reclaims the complete life of Jesus, and not only his public life, because his whole life builds the Kingdom of God.  Long in coming, we are now allowed to love the world, the Whole, as God’s creation, and to engage with it passionately in all walks of life as we seek to progress God’s Kingdom here on earth.  The whole Church now fully recognises the dignity and holiness of the lay vocation to build this world according to Christ’s values, doing a good job.  However, we do not forget that “If undertaken in pliant surrender, the pursuit of Christ in the world culminates logically in an impassioned enfolding, heavy with sorrow, in the arms of the Cross.”  (10)

Dutch theologian N.M Wildiers writes, “It is precisely because we live in a world which is under construction that our labour takes on a new value and a capital importance. The human task coincides exactly with the duty to carry out the great work of evolution and guide it to completion…  Teilhard urges us to go beyond every form of secularism by including the values of the earth in a Christocentric vision of the world.” (11)

The new theology also underpins the new worldwide ecological movement, a love-energy arising almost too late.  In this way Christianity moves beyond spiritual individualism to collectively empower us to build a better world, as it is called to do.  (In so doing, of course, we will find that ‘our souls have been saved’.)  In the words of Teilhard:

“Eating, drinking, working, seeking; creating beauty, or truth, or happiness- all these things could have seemed to us just like varied activities… Now, directed towards the Super-Christ, the variety draws itself together.  Like the countless shades that combine in nature to produce a single white light, so the infinite modes of action are fused, without being confused, into one single colour under the mighty power of the universal Christ. And it is love that heads this movement: love…the higher, universal and synthesised form of spiritual energy in which all the other energies of the soul are transformed and redirected, once they fall within the field of Omega.  In that centre every activity is amorised.  A super-humankind calls for a Super-Christ.  A Super-Christ calls for a Super-Charity.” (12)

THE COSMIC EUCHARIST

Within the new perspectives our understanding of the Eucharist, centre of our faith, also grows naturally to cosmic dimensions.  As Pope St John Paul writes,

” I have been able to celebrate Holy Mass in chapels built along mountain paths, on lakeshores and seacoasts… This varied scenario of celebrations of the Eucharist has given me a powerful experience of its universal and, so to speak, cosmic character. Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, 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. The Son of God became man in order to restore all creation, in one supreme act of praise, to the One who made it from nothing.” (13)

Pope St John Paul might almost have been quoting from Teilhard’s Mass on the World, a text treasured by many, that par excellence celebrates its cosmic outreach into the whole of creation:

[After the consecration] “Once again the [divine] Fire has entered the Earth.

Without earthquake or thunderclap the Flame has lit up the whole world from within.  All things are individually and collectively penetrated and flooded by it, from the inmost core of the tiniest atom……to the mighty sweep of the most universal laws of being…

In the new humanity which is begotten today the Word prolongs the unending act of his own birth.  And through his immersion in the world’s womb……the great waters of the kingdom of matter have, without even a ripple, been endowed with life.

No visible tremor marks this transformation beyond words, and yet mysteriously and in all truth, at the touch of the super-substantial Word…the immense host that is the universe is made flesh through your own incarnation, my God. …We are all of us together carried in the one world-womb, …yet each of us is our own little microcosm in which the Incarnation is wrought independently, with degrees of intensity.” (14)

How inspiring and meaningful liturgical texts will be when they incorporate something of this new cosmic language!  The universe itself will be made into an instrument resounding with the praise of Christ! 

TOWARDS THE FUTURE

The new perspectives intuit, tentatively, the course of evolution as we hurtle towards the future faster than many of us would like.  Despite living through two world wars (the first experienced at length as a stretcher-bearer on the front lines of battle), Teilhard continued to believe in the power of life to keep moving forward, a movement that would ultimately lead towards a unity of humankind.  An ever-increasing convergence was the feature he highlighted, as, through technology, our minds grow ever closer together into a living, collective consciousness,  both for better and also, as yet, for worse.   “We are gathered here as one big tribe and earth is the tent we all live in,” said Morgan Freeman as he opened the Men’s Football World Cup in 2023.   We must all learn to live together constructively or we will perish together. 

A goal is needed to energise us with hope. “The greatest event in the history of the earth, now taking place, may indeed be the gradual discovery, by those with eyes to see, not merely of Some Thing but of Some One at the peak of the evolving universe as it converges upon itself.” (15)

In other words, the Christian view sees the whole of history as an ascent of the world toward its fulfilment in Christ.  This cosmic vision is classic St Paul:

“His purpose He set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.”  (Eph1:9-10)

NEWLY RELEVANT   

As the Christian faith learns to accommodate these new cosmic perspectives, it finds itself regaining the relevance it has been gradually losing over the past three centuries.  It sounds real!  Most importantly, it invests the life of the laity with new dignity, holiness and purpose. They are building the values of Christ into the workings of this world,  doing God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven.”  The strength of this approach comes from its unified vision: God’s work is one, a single reality, and it generates a deeply holistic and refreshing spirituality.  For Christians there is no longer any conflict between science as it reveals material reality, and faith in Christ, Alpha and Omega of everything.  “A road is opening up: to make our way to heaven through earth…It [Christianity] is the very religion of evolution.” (16) This new story offers a horizon of hope for our troubled times.  

This renewed faith needs to make its way into every place where ‘traditional’ (static, dualistic, individualistic, oblivious to the universe) Christian faith is celebrated, prayed, sung, preached, taught, explored and transmitted to others.  There is a huge task of theological education to be done, a new ‘language’ to be learned, an evolutionary path to be trodden.  At the same time, of course, a broad education in cosmology is needed to underpin it.

The strength gained from drawing these two visions of science and the Christian faith into a single worldview will be phenomenal for the Christian life!  This faith can enable the Church to once more lead people of today and tomorrow into living as befits their responsibilities to the Divine Mystery, to each other and to the universe.  To conclude with the words of Ilia Delio, of the Christogenesis Center for developing Teilhardian thinking: “If we can imagine a new wholeness emerging through science and religion and developing renewed institutional systems for human flourishing, then can we realise a new type of planetary community.  The only way to predict the future is to create it, and the power to do so will come from those who are unbounded in love.” (17)

For more articles on Teilhard see: @teilharddechardinforall.com

REFERENCES

(1) Teilhard de Chardin: The Phenomenon of Man, p 224, translated by Bernard wall.  New York: Harper Perennial Modern Thought, 2008.

(2) Diarmuid O’Murchú,  MSC, Doing Theology in an Evolutionary Way, p 12. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY. 2021.

(3) Ibid. p 95.

(4) T. de C., Towards the Future, p 125. Translated by René Hague, New York, Harcourt, 2002.

(5) Laudate Deum, 65.

(6) T.de C., Science and Christ, p 61, translated by René Hague, New York, Harper & Row, 1968.

(7) Ibid.., p 61.

(8) An Introduction to Teilhard de Chardin, N. M. Wildiers. P.143.  Collins. Fontana Books, London and harper & Row, New York 1968.

(9) T.de C. L’Énergie Humaine, p 113 Oeuvres VI.

(10) T.de C. Writings in Time of War, p 61, Tr, René Hague, New York: Harper & Row, 1968.

(11) N. M. Wildiers in the Foreword to Christianity and Evolution, by Teilhard de Chardin,  Orlando, new York, London, A Harvest Book, Harcourt Inc. First Harvest Edition 1974. P. 11, 13.

(12) T. de C., Science and Christ, p 170, translated by René Hague, New York, Harper & Row, 1968.

(13) Ecclesia de Eucharistia, April 17, 2003.

(14) T. de C., The Mass on the World, published in The Heart of Matter, p 123 translated by René Hague, A Harvest Book, Harcourt Inc.  San Diego, New York, London.

(15) T. de C., The Future of Man, p 293 Translated by Norman Denny. Collins. Fontana Books, London and Harper and Row, New York, 1964.

(16) T. de C., Christianity and Evolution, p 93. Tr. R. Hague. A Harvest Book, Harcourt, Inc. Orlando, New York, London. 1974.

(17) Ilia Delio, 23 Dec 2023, on a promotional email for the Christogenesis centre in America.