Ursula King is one of the foremost authorities on the life and work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) and will be talking about his extraordinarily incisive evolutionary understanding which is so relevant to all of us today. This will be followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Chris Parish, Managing Director of EnlightenNext.
Teilhard de Chardin, was a Jesuit priest and trained paleontologist who stood apart from the mainstream, challenging both the rigid dogmatism of orthodox scientific belief and traditionalist Christianity. His prophetic interpretation of the evolutionary destiny of human consciousness has become a landmark source of reference for many scientists, ecologists, futurists and theologians, now grappling with critical questions about the state of the earth and the human being’s place within it. His most outstanding achievement was to articulate the significance of the new story of evolution. He was the first major thinker in the West to fully articulate the inherently sacred directionality which infuses evolutionary understanding.
The full extent of Teilhard de Chardin’s contribution to our time remains largely understated and Professor King is unusually well-placed to bring his work to life. A work which, with its orientation towards the future, inescapably places the pull of destiny entirely into humanity’s own hands.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: An evolutionary mystic with a global spiritual vision