Original art by Rick Bonetti from a photo of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
In Andrew M. Davis and Phiip Clayton's 2018 book how I found GOD in everyone and everywhere, lia Delio recounts her spiritual journey from a Ph.D. neuroscientist to Carmelite nun and then to become a Franciscan Sister and theologian "specializing in the area of science and religion, with interests in evolution, physics and neuroscience and the import of these for theology."
Ilia Delio is the founder of the Center for Christogenesis, whose mission is "to deepen Teilhard de Chardin’s integration of science and spirituality by providing insights and practices to enkindle awareness of love at the heart of reality."
"Science and religion are areas have yet to find a way together to address some of the major problems of our age." ~ Ilia Delio
In her September 13, 2023 article Science Without Religion is Like an Ocean Without Water she writes "Scientific research is a form of mysticism, a constant exploration into the infinite potential of matter in search of its secret life.... the mystical act involves the synthesizing work of the mind as it gathers facts and strives to form them into a wider synthesis..." proposing that "science is the basis of philosophy and, in turn, theology."
Further on, Delio says "We need to retrieve the integral relationship between science and religion in order to make sense of our rapidly evolving world." She points to Piere Teilhard de Chardin who thought that "science and religion are two phases of the one and the same complete act of knowledge; that is, knowing matter in its depth, breadth and organization is an integral act of knowing on the levels of both science and religion." Teilhard saw the insufficiency of science by itself to bring about a new type of superconsciousness or a higher level of thought on the level of interconnected, planetary life.
In her Rebirthing Religion blog post, she says: "Religion is as important to the flow of evolution as are the mechanisms of Darwinian evolution. Matter is bifacial and religion and science are two aspects of the same whole grounded in an irresistible power of love." But she is not just talking about institutional religion; she is quick to point out that "religion has not kept pace with the rapid rise of technology and the impact of technology on human personhood and society."
"It is the power of the mind that pushes evolution forward toward greater complexity and unity, but it is the power of love that draws life onward toward more unitive life." ~ Ilia Delio
Alfred North Whitehead concluded: “Religion must face change in the same spirit as science. Its principles may be eternal, but the expression of religious principles requires continual development.”
"Theology has fallen so far behind [in fact, all monotheistic religions] that it will take a seismic shift – a revolution – to get theology on the same train with science and technology." ~ Ilia Delio
In this rebirthing process, Delio thinks. "We should abandon the language of science and religion and reframe these areas of knowledge within a new integral paradigm of "relational holism."
The Human Energy Project is promoting a Third Story of the Universe." Worldviews participating in this "Third Story" logic are just beginning to develop. They put forward the emergence of the Noosphere as a promising and motivating Third Story vision." Their Science of the Noosphere examines these topics from a scientific, evolutionary perspective:
The formation of the universe.
The origin of life.
Major transitions in the scale of biological organisms.
The origin of humans.
Increase in the scale of societies in human history, leading up to the present.
The future of humanity in the Internet Age.