The Divine Milieu is a revolutionary book of Christian spirituality. So revolutionary, in fact, that religious superiors disallowed publication. Tho Teilhard, as everyone called him, finished writing it around 1929, it wasn't brought to light until his death, in French in '57 in English translation in '60. Even today few understand it & many are suspicious because it appears to fly in the face of traditional piety. But, while utterly contemporary & revolutionary, it's Christian to its core. It's joyful, hopeful & enthusiastic, as any Christian spirituality should be. It expresses a love of nature, a delight in scientific discovery, a rejoicing in progress & an almost childlike trust in a benevolent cosmos evolving in the unconditional love of a benevolent, forgiving God. It may offer the only integrative spirituality that can satisfy contemporary experience.
Translator's Note
Preface
Introduction
1 The divinisation of our activities
The Christian problem of the sanctification of action
An incomplete solution: human action has no value other than the intention which directs it
The final solution: all endeavour cooperates to complete the world in Christo Jesu
Communion through action
The Christian perfection of human endeavor
Detachment through action
2 The divinisation of our passivities. The extent, depth & diverse forms of human passivities
The passivities of growth & the two hands of God
The passivities of diminishment
Attachment & detachment
The meaning of the cross
The spiritual power of matter
3 The divine Milieu
The attributes of the divine Milieu
The nature of the divine Milieu
The growth of the divine Milieu
Epilogue
Translations from the Latin
Index