TEILHARD DE CHARDIN AND THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST

by Christopher F. Mooney ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 11, 1966

Teilhard de Chardin is widely known to the general reader today as a Jesuit scientist who was largely concerned with man's origin and pre-literary, history and, to some extent, with man's destiny as a continually evolving being. That concept, of course, is quite accurate so far as it goes; but it often fail to take into account that Teilhard was a Christian and a priest as well as a scientist and philosopher, and that his thought, as all properly Christian thought, was essentially Christocentric. Father Mooney's book is the first important work in English that explores thoroughly the great Jesuit's teaching on the relation of man and the world to Christ, a teaching in which Christ figures as the Center of the universe. The work is essentially a synthesis, since Teilhard himself--though his published works abound in references to the subject -- never composed a systematic expression of his Christological thought. Father Mooney has organized Teilhard's material into a coherent entity and has analyzed the framework within which it was written. An introductory section discusses Teilhard's life itself as an expression of the search for unity between God and the world, while subsequent chapters discuss the theological importance of the fact of evolution, the Christ of the Gospels and of the Eucharist as the center of the human world, the significance of Christ's death and resurrection, and the role of the Church in human destiny. A concluding section appraises the probable impact of Teilhard's beliefs upon Contemporary and future Christological thought. Although Father Mooney's book will be a bit difficult for the general reader (but certainly not nearly so difficult as Teilhard himself), the importance of the work as a Teilhardian synthesis and as ""creative commentary"" will recommend it unreservedly to the discriminating adult as by far the finest of the recent ""Teilhard books."" Certainly, it is a must for institutional libraries and for the larger public libraries.

Pub Date: May 11, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1966

Categories: NONFICTION