#29 Awakening Consciousness - The Not Yet God

Carl Jung, Teilhard de Chardin and the Relational Whole by Ilia Delio, OSF Précis by Helene O’Sullivan, MM The First Part of Chapter 12

CONCLUSION

As the 1990s were drawing to a close, a number of spiritual books began to appear on mysticism and the spiritual journey. The Classics of Western Spirituality, developed by Paulist Press, revived the rich tradition of Christian mysticism among Catholic and Protestant writers. Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation focused its mission on bringing contemplation and personal transformation into dialogue with social justice. The teachings of Richard Rohr, Jim Finley, and Cynthia Bourgeault have contributed to the renaissance of mysticism in the Catholic church.

At the same time, many theological discussions continue to unwittingly mix medieval theology and modern questions. We are in a strange phenomenon of medieval mysticism made modern. There is a mix of Thomistic theology, Eastern mysticism, and ecological concerns (among others) blended together like a theological smoothie. Lots of words are swirling around, but there is very little theological coherence or effort to develop a new myth.

The words of some preachers fall powerlessly from the pulpit, as Karl Rahner noted. One must leave the mind at the door of the Church before entering the pew.

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Science underwent several significant shifts in the early twentieth century, including the development of quantum physics and the rise of systems biology. In his 1925 essay on “Religion and Science,” Alfred North Whitehead wrote: “Religion will not regain its old power until it can face change in the same spirit as does science. Its principles may be eternal, but the expression of those principles requires continual development.”

Despite the many conferences sponsored by the Vatican on themes in science and technology, the Catholic Church hesitates to bring science and theology into an integral relationship. Vatican II promised a new vision of the Church, one involved in a world of historical change; however, that vision has diminished and remains ambivalent.

In 1879, Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Aeterni Patris and made Thomas Aquinas the official theologian of the Church. Aquinas had a brilliant mind and would have supported the insights of relational holism. However, he brought together Christianity and Aristotle’s philosophy, which was the leading philosophy of his day. Aristotle was to the Middle Ages what Einstein and Bohm are to the 21st century, natural philosophers. Thomas Christianized Aristotle, and the Church canonized Thomas, and continues to espouse a Christianized Aristotelianism.

SPLIT-BRAIN SYNDROME

Theology based on medieval ideas in a world spinning out of control can no longer remain idle or unchecked. If we bracket science or treat it as a specialized discipline of study, then we fundamentally live with a split-brain syndrome.

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We are postmodern technocrats during the week, all glued to our computers, and sky-God believers on Sunday. No one wants to challenge the Church, and certainly no one wants to challenge God. Yet, if we understand the insights of Jung and Teilhard (and Tillich to some extent), challenging God is exactly what we should be doing.

If one listens attentively, one can hear God saying, “Yes, please, challenge me!” To put this more eloquently, “faith seeks understanding,” as Saint Anselm said. We must make every effort to understand God and God’s relationship to the world, because we have become unplugged from the earth and unglued from one another. We are, effectively, a species out of control on a planet blindly hurling into the future.

CARL JUNG: THE SAINT?

Jung did for psychology what Teilhard did for science and theology; each thinker re-connected the mind and the body, severed by Cartesian dualism and the mechanical paradigm.

Their minds seemed to work in a field of morphic resonance or a synchronized field of energy. Both agreed that there is no God outside the material world. The depth of matter is the whole, and the whole is the transcendence of the psyche; the transcendent depth of the psyche is God. Matter reveals God – for those who have eyes to see. We cannot think about God or relate to God apart from matter. God cannot be separated from matter because matter is the matrix of consciousness.