Spirit of Fire: The Life

¶ … Spirit of Fire: The Life and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin" by Ursula King. Specifically it will summarize the book, discussing how faith and science complement one another. King's biography of scholar Teilhard de Chardin illustrates how science and faith can indeed complement and support one another.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a scientist, a Jesuit priest, and a controversial figure in Catholic Church doctrine. Author Ursula King writes of his life from childhood until his death in 1955, always showing the great bond Teilhard de Chardin had between science and faith. He could not comprehend that they did not complement each other, and did not understand why many of his theories were so controversial and disliked. He was educated in a Jesuit school, where the Jesuits openly taught a combination of science and faith. In fact, when he was just a boy, one of his Jesuit teachers routinely took his students out into the French countryside, and it was during these excursions that Teilhard de Chardin developed his lifelong passion for rocks and geology (King 13). Thus, even at an early age, Teilhard de Chardin's education and open family life led him to blend his piety with science, and he did not regard this as unusual or somehow "against" Church doctrine in any way.

Throughout the book, author King illustrates Teilhard de Chardin's deep commitment to his faith, but also to his passion for science and discovery. She writes, "As a dedicated priest, also passionately devoted to the science of the earth, its life, and that of human beings, he wanted to offer up the whole creation to God" (King 99). He did not find this passionate blend of faith and science incongruous, but many others did, including the Vatican, who banned his writings and teachings. King continues, "His faith in the presence of Christ in all things inspired all his efforts, including his scientific research" (King 103). Thus, he saw his faith in all aspects of his work, and indeed, his faith even supported his work and his strong passion for it. Without his strong faith, it is difficult to imagine that he might have had such a passion for the universe and all its many wondrous discoveries.

Teilhard de Chardin believed that man and the universe were intertwined, and religion in some form or another had always been a part of humankind. However, he felt most religions placed humankind above all other aspects of the universe, and could not accept this intertwining of humans with nature and science. King writes, "They treat man as a small separate cosmos, isolated from the rest of the universe. Any number of sciences concern themselves with man, but man, in that which essentially makes him human, still lies outside science" (King 121). Thus, he felt science and religion were two vital components of humans, but the Church could only recognize one of these elements, and so study and understanding was far too limited.

Banned from discussing his theories by the Catholic Church during his career, Teilhard de Chardin did become discouraged, but he refused to stop believing science and faith could balance each other. In the late 1930s he wrote, "[G]ood is... everything that brings a spiritual growth to the world" (King 166). Thus, he explains his ability to balance science and faith. Science, at least in his mind, brings a spiritual growth to the world by explaining how systems work and live together, and how they have evolved. Science has made broad achievements in the world, from halting illness to discovering life-changing global problems that must be solved to ensure the survival of humankind. Thus, science brings knowledge, but also brings spiritual growth, and in that, it cannot be bad.

This analogy certainly worked throughout Teilhard de Chardin's life. While his theories were not accepted during his lifetime, he managed to always combine his love for his scientific studies with his passion for his faith. This was not incongruous to him - in fact, he felt he could not fully experience one without the other.

Perhaps the biggest illustration of his devotion to both science and faith is how open he remained during his lifetime. King notes, "Teilhard always remained open to new ideas right to the end of his life" (King 213). Perhaps this is one reason there was such controversy over his ideas. The Church is not open to new ideas, in fact, it is quite eloquent in its denouncement of many new ideas and technology, and its dogma is rooted in the past, rather than the present or future. Teilhard was always open to the ability for things to change, while the Church wanted things to remain the way they were. They had to clash, and he had to lose, because the Church was so powerful. His ideas are openly accepted today, but it took until after his death for the Church to accept his notions of evolution and science, and admit that science and faith really do complement each other. Today, some of this acceptance is again eroding away, and it seems the world could be returning to a time when science and faith are being divided. Perhaps it would help many who decry the blend of science and faith to remember Teilhard's words, "[G]ood is... everything that brings a spiritual growth to the world" (King 166).