God, Evolution and the Unfinished Self
We have constructed a world based on a visible universe but there is another side to the story. Discovering the inner universe can help us appreciate that we are not fixed beings in a finite universe but unfinished beings in an unfinished universe. There is something at the heart of nature that renders nature perpetually restless in its longing for wholeness. Awakening and attending to this inner presence we name as God means coming to grips with the deeper truth of nature. It is not a mindless machine for human power. Rather, there is a deep soulfulness to nature that longs to reveal itself on a new level of consciousness and a new unity in love. Using insights from quantum physics, cosmology and evolution, we will explore the relationship between consciousness and space and the mystical quest for holistic reality, with a particular focus on the integral relationship between mind and matter. We will examine Teilhard de Chardin’s notion of withinness and withoutness, as these relate to the core energies of consciousness and love and explore how we might evolve toward a planetary consciousness of love.
Resource Person: Ilia Delio, OSF, PhD, is an American Franciscan Sister of Washington DC and theologian who specializes in the area of science and religion. Her particular interests are evolution, physics and neuroscience and their relationship to theology. She is currently a Professor at Villanova University, holding the Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. She received her doctorate in Pharmacology from Rutgers University New Jersey and a doctorate in Historical Theology from Fordham University, New York. Ilia has taught at Washington Theological Union and held the Woodstock Chair of Theology at Georgetown University.
Sister Ilia has authored many books, among them. The Emergent Christ (Orbis, 2011) won a third place Catholic press Award in 2011. Her newest books include: The Unbearable Wholeness of Being; God Evolution and the Power of Love (Orbis, 2013) and From Teilhard to Omega: Co-creating an Unfinished Universe (Orbis, 2014). She recently edited a book, Personal Transformation and a New Creation (Orbis, 2016).
Recommend Reading
Abrams, Nancy Ellen and Primack, Joel R. The New Universe and the Human Future: How a Shared Cosmology Could Transform the World. New Haven Yale University Press, 2011.
Bruteau, Beatrice. The Grand Option: Personal Transformation and a New Creation. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001.
Delio, Ilia (Ed.) Personal Transformation and a New Creation. Orbis, 2016.
Schäfer, Lothar. Infinite Potential: What Quantum Physics Reveals About How We Should Live New York: Deepak Chopra Books, 2013.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Toward the Future. Translated by René Hague. New York: Harcourt, 1975.
PS Longer Bibliography will be made available during the Program.