omega point

[Agent]

Does anybody know anything about “the omega point”? Don Deillo has recently published a novel titled “Point Omega” that supposedly relies heavily upon the concept of the omega point as espoused by a Jesuit Priest. . . .

 

[Theophorus]

The Concept was put forward by a French priest called Fr. Teilhard de Chardin SJ, in his book “The Human Phenomenon”. He believed the universe was evolving towards a maximum level of complexity and consciousness and he termed this zenith The Omega Point.

While he went to far and some of his books were censured, some of his ideas do have merit and pope benedict has made positive comments about him.

 

[antroji]

Yes, the original publication, written 1938–40, was *Le Phénomène Humain *(1955).For a religion class we read the work in English titled *The Phenomenon of Man *(1959.) The Omega point was a cheif factor therin. If you look here you can see an illustration depicting the theory.

Fascinatingly, there is a current similar exposition from what claims to be, though not in direct comparison to Chardin, a more universal approach to such an idea. It is presented in Ken Wilbur’s A Brief History of Everything. It makes fascinating, if at times thick, reading. I would wonder how it compares to the novel mentioned earlier. I may just have to get that and read it.

 

[rvilbig]

Does anybody know anything about “the omega point”? Don Deillo has recently published a novel titled “Point Omega” that supposedly relies heavily upon the concept of the omega point as espoused by a Jesuit Priest. . . .

The Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office issued a warning against the writings of Teilhard de Chardin in 1961 which has not been revoked.

He seems to have held several heretical positions.

1. He taught that God was mutable: “All around us, and within our own selves, God is in process of 'changing,’ his brilliance increases, and the glow of his coloring grows richer”. (Teilhard, The Heart of Matter, p. 53). Scripture assures us that God does not change: “I am the Lord, and I change not” (Malachi 3:6).
2. He taught that the natural world mechanistically produced souls: “When water is heated to boiling point under normal pressure, and one goes on heating it, the first thing that follows -without change of temperature- is a tumultuous expansion of freed and vaporised molecules. …] **y these remote comparisons we are able to imagine the mechanism involved in the critical threshold of reflection” (Teilhard, Phenomenon of Man, p.168). The Venerable Pius XII, in his encyclical on evolution, taught that “the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God” (Humani Generis, p.36).
3. He twisted scripture to support pantheism: “St. Paul tells us, God shall be all in all. This is indeed a superior form of ‘pantheism’ without trace of the poison of adulteration or annihilation: the expectation of perfect of unity, steeped in which each element will reach its consummation at the same time as the universe” (Phenomenon of Man, p.294). God transcends the universe, so this is an untenable position.
4. He had no doctrine of original sin.

He also seems to have formulated some untenable scientific positions:

1. He argued that "“We have seen and admitted that evolution is an ascent towards consciousness …] therefore, it should culminate forwards in some sort of supreme consciousness.” (The Phenomenon of Man, p.258). However, consciousness is directly created by God, and biological evolution may produce diseases (like AIDS) even after the emergence of bodies capable of hosting consciousness. Nor is there any indication that bacteria are striving toward consciousness; they have already found a niche in which they may surive, for example.

A far better book on the parallel between biological evolution and spiritual evolution is Transformation in Christ, by Dietrich von Hildebrand. Really, it’s a simply as answering the question: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then also you may do good who are accustomed to do evil.” (Jer 13:23). If God change species in nature through genetics, is it not conceivable that He can also transform our souls?

Hope this helps,

-Ryan Vilbig
ryan.vilbig@gmail.com**