Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a visionary French Jesuit, paleontologist, biologist, and philosopher, who spent the bulk of his life integrating religious experience with natural science, most specifically Christian theology with theories of evolution. As an eminent scientist and cosmic mystic, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin presented a dynamic worldview in which he argued that our species does occupy a special place within a spiritual universe and that it is evolving toward an Omega Point as the end-goal of humankind on this planet.
He became absolutely enthralled with the possibilities for humankind, which he saw as heading for an exciting convergence of systems, an “Omega point” where the coalescence of consciousness will lead us to a new state of peace and planetary unity. Long before ecology was fashionable, he considered this unity based intrinsically upon the spirit of the Earth.
With his commitment to the fact of evolution, Teilhard as geopaleontologist and Jesuit priest became a very controversial figure within the Roman Catholic Church during the first half of this century. Because of his bold interpretation of our species within earth history and a dynamic universe, he was silenced by his Jesuit superiors for taking an evolutionary stance at a time when this theory was a threat to the entrenched orthodox theology. A modern-day Galileo, Teilhard maintained that evolution discloses the special place our species occupies within life, nature and the cosmos.
