Pierre Teilhard De Chardin was a Jesuit scientist, a brilliant paleontologist and evolutionist who attempted throughtout his life to reconcile Catholic belief with scientific knowledge. It was necessary for him to invent a new vocabulary in order to accomplish this.  The trouble is that this vocabulary is rooted in mysticism and faux scientific terminology.
He valiantly tries to show the long march from unicellular creatures to modern human.  This is much more plausible than his introduction of a spiritual "zone" through which this evolution is strained.  In other words, evolutionary change with a hidden guiding hand.  Parts of it were beautiful and I agree with the author that man is a unique phenomenon on this planet.  But how one reconciles a physical mechanism with a spiritual theology is a task too great even for a great man.
How is Jesus as God reconciled with ape-man or pre-man? Chardin suggests that religion is a natural outgrowth of being human and he may be right.  But it should be noted that the spiritual side of man has evolved along with the physical changes. All we can do is take a "snapshot" of where we are, discover who we were and prepare for who we will become.
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin was a Jesuit scientist, a brilliant paleontologist and evolutionist who attempted throughtout his life to reconcile Catholic belief with scientific knowledge. It was necessary for him to invent a new vocabulary in order to accomplish this. The trouble is that this vocabulary is rooted in mysticism and faux scientific terminology. He valiantly tries to show the long march from unicellular creatures to modern human. This is much more plausible than his introduction of a spiritual "zone" through which this evolution is strained. In other words, evolutionary change with a hidden guiding hand. Parts of it were beautiful and I agree with the author that man is a unique phenomenon on this planet. But how one reconciles a physical mechanism with a spiritual theology is a task too great even for a great man. How is Jesus as God reconciled with ape-man or pre-man? Chardin suggests that religion is a natural outgrowth of being human and he may be right. But it should be noted that the spiritual side of man has evolved along with the physical changes. All we can do is take a "snapshot" of where we are, discover who we were and prepare for who we will become.