Pierre Teilhard Influence

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a Jesuit priest. His ideas about evolutionary theism is very fascinating because he saw a connection between the science of evolution and his conception of a supreme being. His position on the correlation of science and religious faith brought a new intellectual perspective. This is a very interesting idea because one cannot imagine what it is like connecting God with evolution. Evolution and God has always been perceived as two individual ideas. Teilhard in this case, makes a connection between the two. Teilhard’s influences were his two parents. His father loved science and he passed his interest onto Teilhard when he was young. Teilhard was very fascinated by nature and science. His mother was also a big influence

“Teilhard felt that the church had never properly respected science because it contained new elements which disturb the church’s dominance over people’’ (Hill 142). His views were outside of Catholic doctrine at the time. His views were later embraced by Pope John Paul II. Teilhard who was able to connect evolution with God saw no conflict between his Catholic faith and science and his views gained wide acceptance within the church later on his lifetime. Church leaders were slow to accept this new way of thinking presented by Teilhard. Pope John Paul II later began to indicate a change to Teilhard’s view. The acknowledgment of his work came only after his death. He presented the Catholic faith with intellectual evidence that affirmed and strengthened the faith of Catholics. Teilhard’s views are both complex and simple. The mystery of faith and the unsolved mysteries of science can be mutually compatible. “For him evolution was hard to capture but one thing was clear to Teilhard that there is a physical connection between all living beings” (Hill 133). He was at the forefront of establishing the connections between science and faith and his work brought light to the fundamental connection and recognition that God and science are essentially