Spirituality of Creation, Evolution, and Work: Catherine Keller and Pierre Teilhard De Chardin(Past Light on Present Life: Theology, Ethics, and Spirituality)

Two developments that occurred over the course of the nineteenth century had a strong impact on Christian theology. The first was a deepening of the implications of historical consciousness, and the second was the impact of science on Christian self-understanding. Marx's sociology of knowledge symbolizes the first; Darwin's analysis of evolution symbolizes the second. These intellectual developments gave rise to various forms of process philosophy and theology. Within this context, a dialogue between Christian theology and evolution has yielded dramatically new convictions and practices in Christian spirituality, especially relative to ecology. For more than three decades Catherine Keller has been reflecting on the intellectual and practical effects that an internalization of the dynamic character of reality should have upon the practice of Christian life. Her text illustrates the basic framework of dynamic becoming that science demands, whether or not one is formally a process thinker. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was an earlier figure who was more zeroed in on the phenomenon of evolution, which he encountered in a distinct way as a Christian scientist trained in geology and paleontology, as distinct from biology or genetics. Evolution explicitly informs his spirituality. These two different Christian writers, the one representing the imaginative framework of being as process and becoming, the other focused on how evolution affects intentional spiritual life, open new perspectives on the spiritual character of people's active lives of work and creativity in the world that science presents to us.

Table of Contents:
I – Introduction to the Authors and Texts 1 II – The Texts 19 Catherine Keller: On Process Thinking Selections from On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process 21 From Chapter 1: Come, My Way: Theology as Process 23 From Chapter 3: Be This Fish: Creation in Process 40 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, On Evolutionary Spirituality Selections from The Divine Milieu 55 From Part One: The Divinisation of Our Activities 57 From Part Two: The Divinisation of Our Passivities 83 III – A Spirituality of Creativity and Work 105 Further Reading 125 About the Series 127 About the Editors 133

About the Author :
Roger Haight is emeritus Visiting Professor at Union Theological Seminary. The recipient of the Alumnus of the Year award from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago in 2006, he is a Past President of the Catholic Theological Society of America and a recipient of the John Courtney Murray award for achievement in theology. Alfred Pach III is an Associate Professor of Medical Sciences and Global Health at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and an MDiv in Psychology and Religion from Union Theological Seminary. Amanda Avila Kaminski is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Texas Lutheran University, where she also serves as Director of the program in Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship. She has written extensively in the area of Christian spirituality.

Review :
Reading the series gives the sense of sitting in on an exciting seminar with an excellent teacher.-- "Theological Studies" . . .[T]his piece nicely contributes to the vast corpus of theological knowing by integrating key points of two essential thinkers, thereby illuminating new perspectives on the spiritual character and meaning of our life, work, and creativity in a world of chaos, complexity, and change.-- "H-Net Reviews" Past Light on Present Life is a brilliantly dynamic series. It weaves together theological frameworks, ethical implications and spiritual mindsets in interpreting texts of numerous great personages in the history of Christian Spirituality. Importantly, in doing so it responds to searing questions of our current age. The genius of the series lies in the precise choices of the original texts at the heart of each concise volume, which provide the key for such pertinent interpretation. These volumes provide much needed fresh insight for experts in the field, as they also will prove invaluable for undergraduate teachers, graduate students, religious seekers and spiritual directors.---Julia D.E. Prinz on the Past Light on Present Life: Theology, Ethics, and Spirituality series Listening to Christian spirituality carefully and liberatingly for the present is neither simple nor necessarily welcome in pluralistic and secular contexts. This series, intended for respectful existential, secular and pluralistic engagement, promotes a deep conversation about how Christian spiritual heritage matters today. Readers are invited into the art of interpretation with--and beyond--these influential texts and authors, into difficult and urgent questions about how we live well together in a world where no one single vision prevails, but where we help each other clarify what matters most, making a world with room for all spiritual paths promising justice. For the everyday quest to live well together in a world we must equally share, Christian tradition offers spiritual wisdom--and this series offers able guides in recovering that wisdom and suggesting how it can be practiced today.---Tom Beaudoin on the Past Light on Present Life: Theology, Ethics, and Spirituality series