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The Salvation of the Cosmos: Benedict XVI's Eschatology and Its Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fall 1-1-2017 The alS vation of the Cosmos: Benedict XVI's Eschatology and its Relevance for the Current Ecological Crisis Jeremiah Vallery Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Vallery, J. (2017). The alvS ation of the Cosmos: Benedict XVI's Eschatology and its Relevance for the Current Ecological Crisis (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/205 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE SALVATION OF THE COSMOS: BENEDICT XVI’S ESCHATOLOGY AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR THE CURRENT ECOLOGICAL CRISIS A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Jeremiah Vallery December 2017 Copyright by Jeremiah Vallery 2017 THE SALVATION OF THE COSMOS: BENEDICT XVI’S ESCHATOLOGY AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR THE CURRENT ECOLOGICAL CRISIS By Jeremiah Vallery Approved October 30, 2017 ________________________________ Radu Bordeianu, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Theology (Committee Chair) ________________________________ ________________________________ Daniel Scheid, Ph.D. William Wright, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Theology Associate Professor of Theology (Committee Member) (Committee Member) ________________________________ ________________________________ James Swindal, Ph.D. Marinus Iwuchukwu, Ph.D. Dean, McAnulty College Chair, Theology Department Professor of Philosophy Assistant Professor of Theology iii ABSTRACT THE SALVATION OF THE COSMOS: BENEDICT XVI’S ESCHATOLOGY AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR THE CURRENT ECOLOGICAL CRISIS By Jeremiah Vallery December 2017 Dissertation supervised by Radu Bordeianu, Ph.D. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has elements of a cosmic eschatology embedded in his theological oeuvre that have not heretofore been extensively systematized. This dissertation fills this gap by contextualizing Benedict’s cosmic eschatology in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, examining his Logos theology and his view on the fate of the cosmos, exploring his cosmic liturgy, and evaluating his concept of human ecology and pneumatology. Benedict insufficiently links his cosmic eschatology to his papal teachings on the environment; however, his cosmic eschatology can be developed in fruitful ways. After providing a thorough articulation of Benedict’s cosmic eschatology, I offer my own ideas on how it might develop. I suggest modifying the exitus-reditus schema to accommodate the uniqueness of individuals and, building on the foundation of Benedict’s cosmic eschatology, I lay the groundwork for a pneumatological cosmic eschatology using the insights of various eastern theologians. iv DEDICATION To the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I could not have written this dissertation without God’s providence. There are so many people and institutions that contribute to the writing of a dissertation. In the first place, I would like to thank my wife, Michelle, and our daughters, Cecilia Anastasia, Lucy Agnes, and Genevieve Margaret, for their patience as I labored many hours to complete this project. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my parents, Ted and Karin, and to my grandfather, Ted Israel, for instilling within me a love for the Faith without which I would not have pursued a terminal degree in theology. Special thanks to Fr. Radu Bordeianu for directing my dissertation and for his expert guidance, invaluable insights, and constant encouragement, to Daniel Scheid for introducing me to the topic of ecological ethics through a course I took with him at Duquesne University, and to William Wright for directing an excellent doctoral seminar on Sacred Scripture. Thank you, readers, for supporting me in this journey. I would also like to thank the many teachers and professors I have had throughout my life. I thank the staff members of Gumberg Library of Duquesne University, Doherty Library of the University of St. Thomas (Houston), Cardinal Beran Library of St. Mary’s Seminary, and Lanier Theological Library for allowing me to use their resources to assist me in writing this dissertation. Last of all, I would like to thank Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI for his theological contributions over the years and service to the Church. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract........................................................................................................................................... iv Dedication........................................................................................................................................ v Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 Overture ...................................................................................................................................... 2 A Concise Biography of Benedict XVI .................................................................................... 10 Purpose and Method ................................................................................................................. 14 Dissertation Outline .................................................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER 1: MODERN COSMIC ESCHATOLOGY ................................................................22 Pre- and Post-Schweitzerian Eschatology ................................................................................ 22 Pre-Schweitzerian Eschatology ............................................................................................ 23 Weiss and Schweitzer ........................................................................................................... 25 The Revival of Cosmic Eschatology......................................................................................... 30 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin .................................................................................................... 30 Teilhard’s Vision of the Evolving Cosmos ....................................................................... 32 Teilhard and Benedict ....................................................................................................... 37 Assessment of Teilhard ..................................................................................................... 45 Jürgen Moltmann .................................................................................................................. 46 Moltmann’s Cosmic Eschatology ..................................................................................... 46 The Widening of Personal Eschatology ........................................................................ 47 Time, Space, and the Cosmic Shekinah ........................................................................ 50 vii Moltmann and Benedict .................................................................................................... 52 Evaluation ......................................................................................................................... 56 John Haught .......................................................................................................................... 60 Haught’s Cosmic Eschatology .......................................................................................... 61 The Restructuring of Metaphysics ................................................................................ 61 The Universe as a Drama .............................................................................................. 64 Rethinking Original Sin and Suffering ......................................................................... 66 Haught and Benedict ......................................................................................................... 70 Original Sin, Expiation, and Cosmic Redemption ........................................................ 70 Evolution vs. Providence .............................................................................................. 72 Metaphysics .................................................................................................................. 74 Preparing the Cosmos for the Future ............................................................................ 76 Evaluation ......................................................................................................................... 77 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 81 CHAPTER 2: LOGOS AND COSMOS ........................................................................................84 Benedict’s Cosmic Eschatology/Soteriology: An Overview .................................................... 85 The Sacramental Vision of Benedict XVI ...............................................................................
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