Teilhard de Chardin on the Gospels

Like St. Paul, Teilhard wrote much about the risen Lord and the mystical body of Christ and very little about the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Nevertheless, for Teilhard, "the mystical Christ of St. Paul has neither meaning nor value in our eyes except as an explanation of the Christ who was born of Mary and who died on the cross." Teilhard was acutely aware that no matter how far we are drawn into the divine spaces opened to us by Christian mysticism, we never depart from the Jesus of the Gospels. With this background, Teilhard de Chardin on the Gospels addresses two fundamental questions: How do Jesus's words apply to me and to people today, and how do the Gospels address and make sense to a culture that is being shaped by science, technology, and a growing awareness of the universality of evolution?