The Phenomenon of Teilhard

Book excerpt: New Age writer of the popular Aquarian Conspiracy Marilyn Ferguson observed that many of the leading lights of the New Age movement claim Teilhard as one of the most influential persons in their lives. Other influences acknowledged include C. G. Jung, Aldous Huxley, Swami Muktananda, Thomas Merton, Werner Erhard, and Maharishi Yogi. Indeed, of the 185 New Age leaders surveyed, Teilhard was the most frequently mentioned of any person who had most influenced their thinking. If this is the case, then if we are to understand the New Age movement properly it behooves us to take a careful and critical look at Teilhard de Chardin. David Lane has done precisely this in a clear, well documented, and penetrating way.... In this crucial book David Lane lays bare the philosophical, theological, and scientific failures of Teilhard's New Age enterprise. In a highly documented and insightful scrutiny of Teilhard's cosmic evolution, Lane unveils the apostate Christian roots of one of the most important forerunners of the New Age movement. This is one of the most significant and serious treatments of the modern roots of the New Age in print.