Table Of ContentLET ME EXPLAIN
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.' }.(:! \ ' . '
. by the same' author
THE APPEARANCE OF MAN
THE DIVINE MILIEU
THE FUTURE OF MAN
HOW I BELIEVE
HYMN OF THE UNIVERSE
LETTERS FROM A TRAVELLER
LETTERS TO LEONTINE ZANT A
THE MAKING OF A MIND
MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE
THE PHENOMENON OF MAN
SCIENCE AND CHRIST
THE VISION OF THE PAST
WRITINGS IN TIME OF WAR
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
LET ME EXPLAIN
Texts selected and arranged by
JEAN-PIERRE DEMOULIN
Translated by Rene Hague and others
tfj
1817
HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS
New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London
Contents
Abbreviations
7
Preface, by Jeanne-Marie Mortier 9
Introduction, by Jean-Pierre Demoulin II
Note otJ Teilhard's Vocabulary IS
Part One Phenomenology
I. Seeing 23
2. The Vision of the Past 27
3. The Phenomenon of Man 34
·4. The Future of Man 49
S. The Activation of Human Energy S7
6. Conclusion: A Summary of my Phenomenological Views 71
Part Two Apologetics
I. The Attributes of Omega Point 79
2. Evolutionary Creation and the Expectation ofa Revelation 85
3. The Christian Phenomenon and Faith in the Incarnation 87
4. The Living Church and Christ-Omega . 98
S. The Religion of Tomorrow 103
6. Conclusion: Revelation and the Christian Phenomenon 108
Part Three Morality and Mysticism
I. Natural Morality III
2. Mysticism lIS
3. The Consummation of Mysti~sm ~29
A Summary of my Intellectual Position 143
Autobiographical Evidence 149
Prayer to the Ever-greater Christ 160
Bibliography 163
Index 181
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Abbreviations
A.E. (Oeuvres VII) L'A ctivation de l'Energie
of
A.M. The Appearance Man
of
F.M. The Future Man
H.E. Human Energy
of
H.U . Hymn the Universe
M.D. Le Milieu Divin (The Divine Milieu)
M.P.N. Man's Place in Nature
P.M. The Phenomenon of Man
S.C. Science and Christ
v.P.
The Vision of the Past
W.T.W. Writings in Time of War
Preface
In a letter to one of his correspondents Pere Teilhard de Chardin
himself shows us the best standpoitlt from which to understatld
atld take in the full extent of his thought.
This is the commanding position adopted by Dr Jean-Pierre
Demoulin as the starting-point for following Pere Teilhard's
intellectual journey. In this book he gives us the fruits of his per
severing researches and of his experience. He is our personal
guide to the peak from which we can look out over the boundless
horizon covered by Teilhard's survey: the peak upon which, at
the end ofh is days, with 'the splendour' of the final vision held in
his eyes, he was to compose his swan-song:
'Energy becoming traniformed into Presence.
'And in consequence the possibility can be seen, opening up
for Man, oj not only believing and hoping but (something mUch
more unexpected and valuable) of loving, co-extensively and co
organically with the whole past, the present and the future of a
Universe that is in process of concentrating upon itself.
'It would seem that a single ray of such a light falling like a
spark, no matter where, on the Noosphere, would be bound to
produce an explosion of such violence that it would almost i,,
stantaneously set the foce of the Earth ablaze and make it entirely
new.
'How is it, then, that as I look around me, still dazzled by
what I have seen, I find that I am almost the only person of my
kind, the only one to have seen? And so, I cannot, when asked,
quote a single writer, a single work, that gives a clearly expressed
description oj the wonderful "Diaphany" that has transfigured
everything for me?'
9
Prt/ace
We should be grateful to Dr Demoulin for helping us so effec
tively to enter into the synthesis in which we can discern the IDia
phany' that illuminated Pere Teilhard's last exile. A penetrating
study has given him a masterly knowledge of the writings of this
great thinker: and while this has made him eminently qualified to
produce the present volume, it has also enabled him to make a
valuable contribution to the activities of the Teilhard Association.
JEANNE-MARIE MORTIER
Introduction
'I'd like to read Teilhard, but I don't know where to be
gin.' That sort of remark must be familiar to anyone who
admires Pere Teilhard and accep.ts his teaching; and yet, for
all his anxiety to share his sense of wonderment with others,
he finds himsdf at a loss for an answer. What advice ca,n one
give a beginner? As an initial introduction, The Phenomenon
ofM an is not only often difficult reading for a person who has
not a scientific turn of mind, but also rather lengthy. It
seemed a good plan, accordingly, to compile a sdection of
comparativdy short passages (confining oursdves to Pere
Teilhard's own words) that would give a complete panora
mic view of his thought.1
What is offered here, accordingly, is a sdection from the
nine volumes of the Oeuvres that have already been pub
lished, and from such unpublished writings as seemed
necessary to clarify certain points. The choice has been made
from those passages that are the most significant and also,
so far as possible, the clearest and most simple.2
Not that it is suggested that one can embark on a study without the
1
over-all picture that is indispensable for the understanding of so highly
synthesized a system of thought. The present attempt is justified by the
W:t that no current publication contains a 'complete and authentic'
summary of his intellectual position, 'in relation to the World and to
God'. His own short Comment je vois (1948, to be included in volume Xl
of the Oeuvres) is, indeed, such a synthesis, but it is so concise and ab
stract as to seem altogether too difficult for our immediate purpose.
Z In part one, we have drawn freely upon three lectures given by Teil
hard in Peking,· in which his language is particularly easy: The Future of
Man as seen by II plllaeontologist (1941, in The Future of Man), Man's
Place in the Universe (1942, in The Vision of the Past), and Life and the
Planets (1945, in The Future of Man).
II
