Louis M. SAVARY. Teilhard de Chardin on Morality: Living in an Evolving World. New York: Paulist Press, 2019. pp. 188. $24.95 pb. ISBN: 978-0-8091-5407-4. Reviewed by Dolores L. CHRISTIE, Shaker Heights, OH 44122.

One would expect a book with such a title to be ponderous and pedantic. Happily this is not the case. Savary, a well-published scholar of Teilhard’s work, has managed to take the exciting thinking of the great Jesuit thinker, not always on the must-read list of the average reader, and develop a great book on the moral implications of that work. The book reeks with affirmation and optimism, despite its somber black cover.

The initial chapters introduce what the author terms a new kind of spirituality, a new consciousness. Rather than emphasizing following rules to avoid sin—that list of what not to do—one should concentrate on the positive. Catholics of a certain age will remember small books listing specific sins against each of the Ten Commandments that were given to a child preparing for first confession. They detailed what was forbidden rather than offering an optimistic horizon of moral possibilities. Teilhard sees a vision of the possible: each person is called to discern how individual talents might be mobilized to make the world better. Persons promote God’s “great project” best when they take collective responsibility for contributing to the teleology of a better world.

Moral reflection can no longer parse goodness through the lens of an inadequate paradigm. Most of today’s moralists have moved from the static world of Aquinas to a modern world of change, ecumenism, and embrace of science. Savary points out that even the invention of the telescope, the work of Darwin, and the more recent understanding of human genetics, can influence moral choice.

Chapter 3 outlines eight principles of Teilhard’s thought, which can produce (Savary quotes his subject) “an ethic of loving cooperation aimed at the development and transformation of the world.” Chapter 4 expands these principles into eleven tenets: what moral action based on these principles looks like in real life. At the end of each section he offers the reader specific questions and suggestions for application, “spiritual exercises” that echo the themes of an Ignatian retreat. They are designed to prompt growth and good through daily reflection and activation of personal potential.

The final section of the book revisits original sin and Baptism. It broadens the traditional understanding of Genesis 3 beyond some consequential act of primordial first parents which need cleansing to the “transhistoric” reality of the human conditionand the ecological reality of the physical world. Baptism becomes a pointer to “future positive personal and collective moral behavior,” the “Christogenesis” of the world.

I have one small bone to pick with the author. If memory serves, I believe he misquotes—as is common—the Ignatian admonition, “Pray as if everything depends on God . . . .” I remember the translation differently. It suggests that one should pray as if everything depends on you (know your limitations and trust that they are made up by others who do God’s work) and act as if everything depends on God (humility affirms that our own works provide only partial effects toward God’s purpose; and we are called to be indifferent in our actions). As Savary points out, courageous moral action can put human beings on murky moral ground. We can be reluctant to step out onto it, as good results from brave actions are not a sure thing.

Because there are so many, it is difficult to chronicle all the rich metaphors and messages, examples and urgings the book offers. Perhaps the most poignant section is a quote from Teilhard on the efficacy of suffering. The reality of human pain cannot simply be covered over with a pious brush with lame phrases: “God tests only those God loves.” “Offer it up.” Rather, Teilhard affirms, “Suffering holds hidden within it, in extreme intensity, the ascensional force of the world.”

In some ways, knowing the premise of Teilhard’s work, the book’s themes are predictable. Nevertheless, the emphasis on specific practices or issues—morality—rather than heady concepts makes it good spiritual reading than heavy theology. The small volume would be a lovely Christmas present for friends or a mind-expanding read for students, especially those whose moral development lingers in Kohlberg’s normative phase. If one will pardon the pun at the expense of the author, the book is a “savory” treat for any literary diet.