Bill's Bible Blog

A quote from our recent sermon by Pastor Brian ending the Philippians series fascinated me:

So I decided to look more deeply into it…

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881 to 1955) was a French Jesuit priest, a scientist and a philosopher who tried to combine Christian faith with the scientific theory of evolution. He taught that the universe and humanity are growing closer together in mind and spirit toward a final goal in Christ, which he called the “Omega Point.”

Teilhard believed and taught that our spiritual essence transcends the physical body; that we are souls temporarily housed in human form. He viewed our life lived on Earth as an opportunity to grow spiritually, not merely a trial of suffering to be survived, as the more ascetic Catholics believe.

Teilhard’s “spiritual versus human” statement means that our eternal soul should be considered the primary part of our being, and that our physical body is just a temporary housing for it. This flips the view from evolution that we are just physical animals who occasionally feel a spiritual, religious urge.

As a caution in accepting Teilhard’s teachings, the Catholic church considered his viewpoints so erroneous and highly controversial that they would not allow his works to be published until after he died. On the other side, the scientific community often considered his ‘scientific’ speculations to be mostly ‘pseudoscience’.

Despite the controversy of Teilhard’s popular Christian philosophy during his lifetime, his thoughts continue to have an influence on Christiandom through his published works. The following quote, often attributed to theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, but also to dancer/actress Eleanor Powell, can be thought of as having been derived from Teilhard’s ideas:

Teilhard was an innovative thinker, but for the Christian, his ideas should be carefully compared to the teachings of the Bible before being accepted as possibly true or even being relevant.

📋 In summary, Teilhard’s concept of humanness versus spirituality encompasses these ideas:

1. We are not our limitations: Our personality,  our physical body, and the memories of our experiences–both good and bad–are just temporary vehicles for our soul.

2. Life is a classroom: The struggles and joys of life, the everyday encounters and experiences, are opportunities for our soul to grow spiritually in expressing love,  being joyful, and practicing compassion.

3. Life Purpose: Shifting our perspective from material achievements and pleasure seeking, to spiritual development and seeking to love, even in the midst of trying circumstances, brings a deeper sense of peace, meaningfulness and a feeling of oneness with God.

As one can see, there are many overlaps between what Teilhard said and how it was interpreted with what the Bible teaches.

🍎 APPLICATION
Original thinkers like Teilhard can cause us to see and think about Biblical truths in a new way, but let’s be very, very careful that they don’t lead us away from the clear teachings of Scripture. As the Bible says over and over again:

Jesus warned His disciples, as recorded in both Mark and Matthew, to not be deceived by others claiming to be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and then He provided clear signs that would tell when the end of this age will be imminent.

The apostle Paul also warns believers in his letters to various churches to not be tricked, but to watch out for false ideas about the end times, following along with what Jesus taught, but also to not be deceived by empty words, by sin, and by worldly foolishness.

In addition to rejecting deceptive messages and teaching, Paul also advised the two pastors he had trained, Titus and Timothy, to avoid getting involved in controversial topics that would cause arguments instead of promoting Christian unity.

Enough said❓️

‼️ CONCLUSION:

According to the Scriptures, is Teilhard correct that we are primarily spiritual beings instead of physical beings?  Well…, maybe.

In the beginning, we ARE primarily physical human beings because our spirits are completely dead as the result of sin.

However, when we are redeemed by God through Jesus Christ…

Once our redemption happens, our dead spiritual self comes to life–is born. The rest of our life then becomes a transition from being only a physical creature, to becoming a spiritual creature. Eventually, if we stay at it long enough, we become that “spiritual being who is having a human experience.”

🤓 COMMENTARY: My take on Teilhard’s quotes? I find them incomprehensible to the point of being inane. I wonder if there is something lost in the translation from the French? To me they seem to be the pseudointellectual meanderings of a deceived man caught up in his own private fantasy. It’s Iike he’s trying to pass off as philosophy whatever his deluded mind imagines might be true or hopes might be true. To me, he’s just putting together a bunch of nice-sounding words like ‘love’ and ‘joy’ and suddenly it sounds like what he says is important and meaningful?  I think his popularity just shows how desperate people ARE for love and joy in their lives, so they latch onto anything or anyone that might seem to give it to them. But he is hailed and famous, whereas I am neither. So, what do I know? 🤷‍♂️

👀 P.S. The most interesting thing I found out about this quote was TEILHARD NEVER SAID NOR WROTE IT!

Quote Origin: You Are Not a Human Being Having a Spiritual Experience. You Are a Spiritual Being Having a Human Experience

Here’s one attribution to another source:

The quote was attributed to Teilhard later by those studying his teachings who took his ideas into the realm of humanistic mysticism. That was always the greatest weakness of Teilhard–the lack of God in what he said. Lacking a clear connection to ‘God the center’ left Teilhard’s philosophy open to application apart from the God of Christianity.

The ideas for the quote originated with Teilhard, true, but it was actually developed and stated by his ‘disciples.’ Besides, it always sounds more impressive to attributed a saying to a famous and prestigious person, doesn’t it?

This is a similar saying from Neale Donald Walsch, another one of Teilhard’s ‘disciples.’  He is an American author and humanistic spiritual speaker best known for his Conversations with God book series, published in 1995, detailing his personal, transcribed dialogues with a ‘higher power’ exploring themes of love, peace, and spiritual interconnectedness.

🦊 Moral of the story? You can’t believe everything you read, ESPECIALLY on the Internet, so BE CAREFUL! ⚠️