6.1.1. The beginning of Evolution
Evolution begins at the Alpha Point.2 This
is the "terminus a quo" of evolution and a rather obscure point in the
Teilhardian system. It is not what we usually understand by "creatio ex
nihilo". According to Teilhard de Chardin, the starting point of evolution
is infinite multiplicity, but disorganized: "Infinite Disorder". It was like
having stones but not the building or like having seeds but not the plant.
Creation, for him, is a creative union, meaning that it is that which brings
about unification out of multiplicity; thus creation is not and cannot be
instantaneous. It is still going on.
Evolution does not proceed haphazardly; it is ortho genetic;
it has a direction, a goal, an axis of development. The axis passes through the
amphibians, reptiles, mammals, the primates and leads straight to
man.3 We can almost pinpoint the axis in the gradual, observable
complexification of the nervous system, especially of the brain.
We can follow it almost step by step. If we go back in time,
we can follow the axis of evolution as it crosses various thresholds, leading
from lithosphere to the biosphere, the vitalization of matter; and from the
biosphere to the noosphere, the thinking layer which now covers the world.
I Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of
Man, New York, I959, pp. 248-25I.
2 See appendix I and appendix II.
3 See appendix II.
It would seem that there is still a long march ahead for
Humanity in the direction of a conquest of Matter put to the service of the
Mind as this new millennium begins.
In despair of finding "peace on Earth", much less thinking of
peace at home; in order to escape conflicts and distance himself from the
negative forces of disintegration, repulsion,
materialisation, mechanisation, totalitarianism, and
false ideologies which destroy reflection; the thinking man of today
interiorizes by turning inward upon himself in the quest of greater
Individuation. He seems prone to "break away as far as possible from
the crowd of others ...to be more alone so as to increase his
being".I By the excesses of his individualization and his
struggle for the "good life", he all too often succumbs to the doctrines of
materialism, survival of the fittest and racism, or he dreams of getting away
from others and the Earth by seeking other planets or other dimensions of
existence.
6.1.2. The end of Evolution
If the cosmic process has a meaning, a direction, a goal, it
must have a definite terminus, a terminus ad quem towards which it is
advancing. It must have a nucleus. A synthesis can take place only around a
nucleus, around which the consciousness of the whole humanity will finally
crystallize. In other words, if evolution follows very many lines, there must
be a peak in which they must converge. And this peak, he calls "Omega
Point."2 Let us once more briefly consider what the attributes
of the Omega Point are3. Teilhard de Chardin says that: (I) It must
be already existing; (2) It must be personal - an intellectual being and not an
abstract idea; (3) It must be transcendent; (4) It must be autonomous - free
from the limitations of space and time; and (5) It must be irreversible, that
is it must be attainable. He expressly states that in the Omega Point,
I Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of
Man, New York, I959, pp. 237-238.
2 See appendix I and appendix II.
3 See pages 65-66 and 87.88 of our work.
the human person and his freedom will not be suppressed, but
super-personalized. Personality will be infinitely enriched.
The end of all evolution is thus something spiritual, the
Spirit itself to which all things are called to unite at the end. As such,
evolution appears as matter serving the spirit. From the cosmic, the biotic to
the noetic, all things are converging towards the Spirit. He passes form
hyper-physics to theology and revelation. He finds in the Gospels, especially
in St. Paul's writings, a truly existing personal, transcendental, autonomous
and irreversible centre of cosmic evolution. He says that Christ is the Omega
Point, and in this all-embracing revealed perspective, he maintains that the
Incarnation, Resurrection and the Ascension of Christ should be viewed not
merely as historical events, affecting Christ only, but as cosmic events,
affecting the whole cosmos.
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