Abstract

Teilhard de Chardin is a fascinating character! Born in 1881 and deceased in 1955, he remains strikingly contemporary. In response to a world shattered by the atrocities of World War I, he progressively elaborates the vision of a world entirely unified through a Center beyond itself. This perception is inserted at the heart of an intellectual endeavor wherein faith and scientific pursuit call onto each other, intertwined in a dialogue of a rare fruitfulness. Books such as The Phenomenon of Man, The Divine Milieu, the Writings in time of War, or The Heart of the Matter witness to his underlying insight: "true" mysticism and the thrust of science which spiritualizes the earth coincide and are in fact one. Besides introducing to the life and thought of Teilhard de Chardin, this book is an anthology of his greatest texts where he discloses for us his mystical insights.