ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH
ANGLICAN CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
7 SHERBORNE ROAD, PARKTOWN, JOHANNESBURG, 2193
PO BOX 72005, PARKVIEW, 2122
Parish Office (09h00 – 14h00)
Parish e-mail
The Revd Dr Jeremy Jacobs
The Revd Geoffrey Lowick
He Revd Dr Nigel Willis
Parish website
(011) 482 1606
secretary@stgeorges.org.za
(073) 195 5816
(011) 786 6551
(011) 482 1606
http://www.stgeorgesparktown.org
LENTEN SERIES 2015
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Dear Friends
Inasmuch as our world is currently fraught with uncertainty, anxiety, and fear – seeming to teeter on the verge of
disaster, it is also true that we have survived apocalyptic crises many times before – and we are likely to do so again.
Human history ebbs and tides between peace and war - between as it were, heaven and hell. In brief, we oscillate
between evolution and devolution – sometimes we create and sometimes we destroy. For the first time in the legacy
of our species, humans have the capacity to participate and influence the evolutionary process – from climate change
to genomics. It is an extraordinary story.
Fr Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881 – 1955), a Jesuit Priest and Professor of paleontology, proposed a beautifully
written scheme by which we may interpret evolution; the majesty of the cosmos; and the purpose of Jesus Christ in
one elegant and coherent theology. He describes this as a Cosmic impulse towards Godliness - the Christification of
the Universe. We, in turn, are invited to be dynamic participants in the unfolding of the Cosmos towards its ultimate
realisation in God. In the process, we are in constant flux between crucifixion and resurrection, but always being
pulled forward and upward by God’s loving desire to be at One with us – the end point of which Teilhard calls the
Omega Point – the Christ Point. This wonderful becoming of the Universe into Godliness is characterised by
increasing complexity, increasing participation, increasing cooperation, and the increasing creativity and love of the
human species. This, says Teilhard, is the divine evolutionary process of Cosmogenesis.
Since Teilhard was a man of his time, his models of science are now outdated, but the principles of his natural
theology are inspiring and beautiful. Creation is not an event in distant time, it is the flamboyance of God exploding
timelessly within the universe, within our bodies, minds, and hearts as the process of creation itself in perpetual
becoming. What an astonishing and humbling realisation – that we are the Universe in becoming towards Christ!
Join us for this intriguing preaching, teaching, and reading series:
18/02 Ash Wednesday
22/02 Lent 1
Compline
25/02 CCS
01/03 Lent 2
Evensong
08/03 Lent 3
Compline
15/03 Lent 4
Compline
22/03 Lent 5
Compline
29/03 Palm Sunday
Compline
02/04 Maundy Thursday
03/04 Good Friday 3 Hour
05/04 Easter Sermons
Evensong
A short sermon on Christogenesis
Introduction to Teilhard de Chardin
Hymn of the Universe: The Offering
Teilhard De Chardin: The Grand Narrative
The Divine Milieu
Hymn of the Universe: Fire Over the Earth
The Phenomenon of Man
Hymn of the Universe: Fire In The Earth
The idea of ‘Unanimisation’
Hymn of the Universe: Communion
The Noosphere
Hymn of the Universe: Prayer
Cosmogeneses and Entropy
Hymn of the Universe: Hymn to Matter
Homily: Hymn of the Universe: The Monstrance
Three Sermons on the Heart of God and the Universe
Delight in the Christification of the Universe
Finale: Hymn of the Universe: Human Progress
Fr Jeremy
Fr Jeremy
Fr Jeremy
Andre Croucamp
Alistair Dry
Anthony Arbuthnot
Fr Jeremy
Fr Jeremy
Fr Gerard
Anthony Arbuthnot
Fr Jeremy
Fr Jeremy
Fr Jeremy
Anthony Arbuthnot
Fr Jeremy
Fr Jeremy
Fr Jeremy
Fr Jeremy
If you would like to do some of your own preparatory reading, I recommend the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Teilhard for beginners http://www.teilhardforbeginners.com/
For a summary of The Divine Milieu read http://www.enotes.com/topics/divine-milieu
For a summary of The Phenomenon of Man read http://www.enotes.com/topics/phenomenon-man
You can read the main texts of Hymn of the Universe at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~alfar2/cosmos/Hymnof-the-Universe.pdf
5. The full text of Let me Explain may be found at https://archive.org/details/LetMeExplain
6. The full text of Christianity and Evolution may be found at https://archive.org/details/ChristianityAndEvolution
Books by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin worth looking at:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The Phenomenon of Man (1959), Harper Perennial.
The Human Phenomenon (1999), Brighton: Sussex Academic.
The Divine Milieu (1960) Harper Perennial.
Hymn of the Universe (1961; English translation 1965) Harper and Row.
Let Me Explain (1970) Harper and Row.
Christianity and Evolution (2002) Harvest.
Writings in Time of War (1968) Collins. Composed of spiritual essays written during wartime. One of the few
books of Teilhard to receive an imprimatur.
I am looking forward to sharing this amazing journey with you.
With God’s blessing
Jeremy
The Revd Dr Jeremy J Jacobs