The Divine Milieu: In a Newly-Revised Translation by Sion CowellPierre Teilhard de Chardin's spiritual masterpiece, The Divine Milieu, in a newly-revised translation by Siôn Cowell, is addressed to those who have lost faith in conventional religion but who still have a sense of the divine at the heart of the cosmos. "The heavens declare the glory of God," sings the Psalmist. Teilhard would agree. "We are surrounded," he says, "by a certain sort of pessimist who tells us continually that our world is foundering in atheism. But should we not say rather that what it is suffering from is unsatisfied theism?" He sees a universe in movement where progress is the spiritualization of matter and its opposite is the materialization of spirit. Teilhard opts for progress. The Divine Milieu is the divine center and the divine circle, the divine heart and the divine sphere. The book is written for those who listen primarily to the voices of the Earth; its purpose is to provide a link to traditional Christianity (as expressed in Baptism, Cross and Eucharist) in order to demonstrate that the fears prevalent in contemporary world society as it abuses its very foundation - Mother Earth - may be better understood by the Gospel path. Teilhard's primary purpose is to show a way forward which he sees as the "Christian religious ideal". The Foreword is by Thomas M. King, S.J., Professor of Theology at Georgetown University, and author of Teilhard's Mysticism of Knowing, editor of The Letters of Teilhard de Chardin and editor of Lucile Swan. |
