Sir Isaac Newton thought the universe
was just dead matter. Now we know
it is like the Aurora Borealis –
alive/dancing/dying/resurrecting –
a new star is born every 15 seconds!
Albert Einstein believed in general and special relativity.
In religious terms the unfolding process
of the evolution of the cosmos is general revelation –
things are heading towards absolute love and consciousness –
towards God and God’s kindom –
whereas formal/major/world religions
are simply parts of this general revelation –
they are special revelations.
But the heart of Christian mysticism
is transcultural and perennial – it covers all the bases
and goes beyond individual religions
and tries to unite them – the marriage
of eastern and western religion may be stormy
but it will be consummated and bear much fruit.
Teilhard saw that Christianity in its roots in Judaism
is a profoundly this-worldly religion
and sought to explain even the secular
as the divine milieu.
On the other hand, Johannes Metz
another Christian theologian believed that
secular individualism contains inherent contradictions –
we are more than cogs in societal wheels –
so he proposed a political Christianity
that draws upon “the dangerous memory of Jesus”
to bring about social transformation.
The meaning of Christ is summed up
in the Creation’s potential for self-transcending love.
God created the universe without a perfect form
which it cries out for and finds in Christ –
Christ is not an intrusion into the world
but rather its Reason for Being
and the Goal of Creation.
Intelligent Christian Spirituality 