The Role of Wisdom Sophia in the Universe Story1
Kathleen Duffy, SSJ, PhD
Jesuit geologist and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was among the first to
recognize that the cosmos is a story, one that John Haught insists must be approached as a
drama, one whose plot, like the plot of any good story, might not have a predictable unfolding. In
his magnum opus The Human Phenomenon (1938), Teilhard examines the major events of this
story, noticing particularly the creativity of the unioning process. Noting that the story approach
will tend to impact the way we interact with our Earth, Passionist cultural historian and
ecotheologian Thomas Berry took up Teilhard’s theme and called on a new generation of
scientists to update Teilhard’s story, to fill in the details that continue to emerge as science
plumbs ever more deeply into its mysteries. Berry wanted us to see, as Teilhard did, what is
really happening in the cosmos. Astrophysicist Brian Swimme took up Berry’s challenge and
together they wrote the now classic The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to
the Ecozoic Era: A Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos. Since then, many others have
told, retold, illustrated, and performed this amazing story in a variety of creative ways. The latest
version of note is The Journey of the Universe, a trio of film, book, and curriculum by Brian
Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker, which is being shared with people of all ages throughout the
world. The most important reason for all of this activity is two-fold—1) to catch a glimpse of
God’s action in the world in a way that is consistent with science and 2) to reconnect ourselves
with our Earth, particularly at this time when so much ecological damage is being done by the
human community because of an attitude of entitlement.
Early in his career, in an effort to articulate his understanding of God’s presence and
action in the evolutionary world, Teilhard composed a prose poem entitled “The Eternal
Feminine” (WTW 191-202), which, in fact, is an alternative version of the Universe Story. This
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rarely-referenced poem, which is based on passages from the Wisdom literature of the Bible,2
seeks to explore the dynamic presence of God immanent in the world of matter and to explore
the cosmic nature of Divine Love. In this paper, I want to show that this poem complements The
Journey of the Universe and to highlight its potential for accomplishing its purpose in a feminine
key.
Teilhard’s “Eternal Feminine” embodies the spiritual power of matter as the feminine
aspect of God’s nature embedded in all of creation.3 She has many prototypes—Beatrice of
Dante’s Divine Comedy, Sophia of the Wisdom literature, and the Virgin Mary, to name but a
few. Like this trio of prototypes, she personifies the cosmic unifying and spiritualizing function
at work in creation; like Wisdom, she is at play in creation and delights in its every facet; like
Mary, she presents Christ to the world; and like Dante’s Beatrice, she is a guide for our journey
into God. For Teilhard, she is Love.
Inspired by the power of this poem to portray the immanent nature of the divine
creativity, I have taken the liberty to rewrite it, updating it with insights gained from modern
science and from modern sophiology. I weave together some of Teilhard’s phrases with scripture
passages from the Wisdom literature and with images gleaned from the work of the others who
have contemplated the Divine Creativity at work at the heart of matter. In order to be faithful to
biblical references, I prefer to call her Sophia, the Greek word for Wisdom. I allow Sophia to tell
her story, to lead us through the billions of years during which she has been laboring, hoping to
stimulate our ability to imagine Divine Action at work in an evolutionary world today and to
demonstrate more vividly the sacred depths of nature.
SOPHIA SPEAKS
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We encounter Sophia at the beginning of time, at the moment when she is embedded into
the primordial energy that is already expanding into the space-time of the early universe. Only
half-formed and still elusive, she emerges as from the mist, destined to grow in beauty and grace
(WTW 192). As soon as the first traces of her presence become apparent, she assumes her
mandate to nurture creation, to challenge it, to unify it, to beautify it, and ultimately to lead the
universe back to God. With this mission as her guide, she attends to her work of transforming the
world, a world alive with potential. Let us listen as she speaks:4
From the beginning, I am being poured forth, even before the universe comes into being.
In the stirring of the cosmic substance, the first traces of my countenance can be read
(WTW 192), playing over the surface of the divine fire. I am the catalyst for the ongoing
creative process. I stimulate the physical and spiritual cosmic energy that is needed to
reach the fullness of life and summon the cosmos to follow my lead.
From within the heart of matter, I hold together the foundations of the universe. Since
everything in the universe is made by union, I labor to condense and to concentrate the
elementary particles that continue to emerge from the energy ejected from the primordial
fire (WTW 193, 192). In order to release the energy stored within these particles and to
assist me in my task of producing greater complexity, I have developed the process of
Creative Union and coded it into the very fabric of the cosmos. Fortified with this guiding
principle, I attempt to persuade the fragments, whether similar or diverse, to come
together. I begin by stirring up within the quanta of primeval energy a deep desire to
hold fast to something outside themselves, to attempt to unite with one another (WTW
192-193), to become something more.
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I am the principle of union, the soul of the world. At play throughout the expanding
space-time (CE 108), I am the magnetic and unitive force that brings disparate matter
together and nurtures each newly created form, urging each one to multiply, to beautify,
and to bear fruit.5With a promise of worlds beyond number, I advise the primordial force
field to separate into its fundamental components: the gravitational, electromagnetic, and
nuclear forces that, throughout the ages, have continued to be effective facilitators of
creative power. Embedded within the elementary particles that materialize out of the
energy of the Big Bang, I counter their tendency to escape from one another. I marvel as
protons, which naturally repel one another, swarm about in the fiery plasma and
eventually come close enough to fuse. As the early universe continues to expand and cool,
it becomes possible for me to engage in further efforts that will eventually unite the
matter scattered throughout the confines of space-time. Nuclei now attract electrons and
form ions and neutral atoms. Soon, atoms of all sorts interact with each other and form
molecules.
I delight as the gravitational force slowly but surely gathers the cosmic gas and dust into
the clumps of matter that will form the first stars and galaxies. In the cores of the newly
formed stars, nuclei respond to the strong nuclear force and fuse first into helium and
then into more complex nuclei. These are the building blocks that the stars will share
with the rest of the universe. As I explore the expanding universe looking for a variety of
ways to implement the process of Creative Union, I thrill at the energy that is continually
released from elementary interactions. These initial results hold the promise of much
more diversity and beauty.
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The process of Creative Union is a gradual process, and is often beset with failure.
Therefore, from within the fragments of matter, I encourage all possible combinations
since I know that not every combination will be productive. Whenever fragments of
matter are able successfully to unite, I make sure that they do not lose their identity.
However, as they come together and begin to operate as a unit, I evoke in them new
possibilities for creativity, for more fruitful interactions, and for further union. Under my
influence, these new creations always become more than what they would have been had
they failed to unite. Each step towards union drives the cosmos towards greater
spontaneity and freedom (WTW 197),6 towards greater novelty, greater integrity, and
ultimately towards greater consciousness.
Because transitions to novel forms are often accomplished by way of intense interactions,
processes that unite the elements into integrated wholes can seem undisciplined and
violent at times. In fact, I often stir up a certain amount of instability in order to achieve
the kind of atmosphere that makes union possible. In the early universe, for instance, new
elements are formed only under conditions of great volatility and high energy, often at
extremes of both temperature and pressure. This is the price of the creative process.
SOPHIA AND EARTH
Although the cosmos is immense, with billions of galaxies, each containing billions of
stars, and many of them with intricate planetary systems, Sophia speaks with particular fondness
about the emergence of planet Earth almost five billion years ago:
I accompany planet Earth as she emerges from the recycled waste material of an
exploded supergiant star. I thrill from within the fire of her molten lava as we swirl over
Earth’s surface, cool, and form her rocky crust. I am present in the gases oozing from her
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surface and forming her protective atmosphere. I encourage the waters of her great
oceans to separate and allow dry land to form. I am the beauty running through this
newly-born planet encouraging it to be creative, to produce novel forms. I am fire. I am
determined to make something new! And suddenly there is life! All at once, the oceans
swarm with one-celled organisms (HP 38)!
As life continues to emerge on planet Earth, Sophia becomes more differentiated and her
tasks become more specialized. She tells us:
The yearning that I embedded into the fragments of the early universe continues to be
effective—living creatures spread rapidly over the face of planet Earth. Within the early
life forms, I instill the sexual force in order to enhance Earth’s diversity and provide new
paths to union. I thrill to see the flowers that appear on the land, making Earth’s face
more colorful, more vibrant, and more beautiful. I urge the many species of animals to
find ways to cooperate. Some are particularly clever at this: insects divide their foodfinding tasks among members of their colony; birds swarm, moving as a body in order to
avoid their predators. I am at work in the song of the birds, in the wild hum of insects, in
the tireless blooming of flowers, in the unremitting work of cells, and in the endless
labors of seeds germinating in the soil. I am the radiance by which all of this beauty is
aroused and within which it is vibrant (WTW 194).
SOPHIA AND THE HUMAN
With the coming of the human, Sophia’s task becomes personal. She is pleased at last to
be recognized. As she begins to unveil her face (WTW 194), she says,
Always ready to promote a richer, deeper, and more spiritualized union, I set about my
task of alluring the highly conscious feature of the world into the elusive web of my
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charms. I am the fragrance drawing human persons, who are able to interact in new and
interesting ways and to follow me freely and passionately along the road to unity (WTW
192). I am the source of their affective power,7 the radiance that arouses human
effervescence, the magnetic force of the universal presence and the ceaseless ripple of its
smile (WTW 195). Although the gift of human freedom makes my role more difficult at
times, humans often assist me in fulfilling my mandate of Creative Union by conceiving
new possibilities. Their creativity brings me great delight.
Especially within the human family, I stir up passionate desire for the more—for
dedication to scientific discovery, for the creation of beauty, for compassion towards
those in need. My love is like a tremendous vital current running through the cosmic
landscape. It is the source of the passionate cosmic forces of union woven into the very
fabric of the universe. It is the world’s attractive power imprinted on human features. In
solidarity with the most vulnerable of creation, with those who yearn for the barest
necessities of life, I sit at the city gates, at the crossroads of a world in crisis, begging for
mercy. I attempt to open the eyes of each person to the presence of pain and suffering in
the world. Whenever and wherever possible, I encourage tender compassion, forgiveness,
and sacrificial love, attitudes that characterize the sensitive soul. I am hope breaking into
history, appearing in the most unexpected places.8I am love, a wild and daring cosmic
love—as strong as the sexual force between lovers, as tender as the nurturing love of a
parent, 9 as fruitful as a vineyard in late summer.
Embedded within the collective human heart/brain that is weaving a web of threadless
fibers (CE 104) over planet Earth, I am the golden thread that holds the fabric of human
love and knowledge together. I gather all who care to join me in my mission. What thrills
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me most is the rich potential that I find among so many members of the human family.
Because of their ability to care for one another, to communicate with one another, and to
collaborate in highly complex ways, because of their capacity to see into the future, to
imagine outcomes, and to accept a goal greater than themselves, my expectations for
Creative Union are raised to new heights.
I know that the only force available to the human community capable of providing the
energy needed for union is love. Only love will herald the coming of a more fully
conscious form of humanity. Embedded within the fibers of this complex web of conscious
interaction that surrounds planet Earth, I continue to draw the human family toward the
light, to the heights, and into freedom. I now focus my activity on my next major task in
the evolutionary process—teaching humanity how to bear the burden of a greater
consciousness, how to harness psychic energy, and how to transform this energy so that
all may be one (TF 72).
SOPHIA AND THE SACRED DEPTHS OF NATURE
Encountering Sophia at the heart of matter, Teilhard began to see the universe as
relational, even personal. He recognized her everywhere—in the rocks that he chiseled, in the
seascapes and landscapes that he contemplated, and in the faces of the dying soldiers to whom he
ministered during the war. His senses were alive to her beauty and love and his heart to ever
more palpable ways of relating to Sophia’s presence. Totally grasped by her charm, he vowed,
like her, to steep himself in the sea of matter, to bathe in its fiery water, to plunge into Earth
where it is deepest and most violent, to struggle in its currents, and to drink of its waters (HM
72). Filled with impassioned love for Sophia, he dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the
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ongoing work needed to transform the cosmos to new levels of consciousness and to
transformative love (FM 24-25).
Imagining a world permeated by Sophia’s presence reveals more clearly our true place
within the Earth community and helps us to experience the communion that we share with all of
nature. We are made from the energy that emerged from the Big Bang; the stars have fashioned
the elements that our bodies need for life; the Sun’s energy provides Earth with the light that
plants need to produce food and the heat we need to keep warm; our lives depend critically on
whether we breathe clean air and drink clean water, on the availability of nourishing food for our
bodies and beauty for our souls. With the entire Earth community, we share a common journey
and a common destiny. Our fellow species supply us not only with the food that we eat, but also
with needed companionship. Viewed from Sophia’s perspective, nature is no longer ours to be
exploited; rather, because of Sophia’s presence everywhere in nature, all is precious within her
loving embrace. Her care and concern extend to the smallest elementary particle as well as to the
largest cluster of galaxies, to the most ancient form of bacteria as well as to each and every
person who lives today.
Openness to Sophia’s presence invites us to develop a sense of companionship with the
other, to give ourselves over to Earth’s beauty, and to partner with her in the work of ongoing
creation. The Journey of the Universe takes on another dimension, one that engenders a deep
relationship with the Personal Power at the heart of the unfolding cosmos. Whenever we
remember Sophia at play in creation, admire Earth’s beauty, discover ways to advance her
project of Creative Union, we begin to understand the magnitude of the great work that has been
going on throughout the world’s space-time history. Attitudes of appreciation and gratitude for
the gifts that are ours as well as a deep respect for all of creation are bound to well up within.
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TEILHARD WORKS CITED
CE
Christianity and Evolution. Translated by René Hague (New York: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, Inc., 1971).
FM
The Future of Man. Translated by Norman Denny (New York: Harper & Row,
Publishers, 1964).
HM
The Heart of Matter. Translated by René Hague (New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1978).
HP
The Human Phenomenon. Translated by Sarah Appleton-Weber (Brighton: Sussex
Academic Press, 1999).
TF
Toward the Future. Translated by René Hague (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1975).
WTW
Writings in Time of War. Translated by René Hague (New York: Harper and Row,
Publishers, 1968).
NOTES
1
Adapted from Kathleen Duffy, “Sophia: Catalyst for creative Union and Divine Love,” in Ilia Delio, From
Teilhard to Omega; Co-creating an Unfinished Universe (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013): 24-36. I became
interested in this approach after reading Christopher Pramuk, Sophia: The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton
(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2009).
2
See, for instance, Sir 1:1-8; 24:3-12; Prov 8:22-31; Wis 1:6-7; 6:12-25; 7:7-12, 24-30; 9:9-12.
3
Teilhard returns to this theme again in an essay entitled “The Evolution of Chastity,” in TF and more directly in the
conclusion to his last major essay, “The Heart of Matter,” in HM, 58-61. He is also refers to Earth’s creative
action in “The Spiritual Power of Matter,” describing in yet other words his experience of the “Eternal Feminine.”
4
The poem that follows can be found in Duffy, “Sophia,” 26-31.
5
Celia Deane-Drummond, “Sophia, Mary and the Eternal Feminine.” In Pierre Teilhard de Chardin on People &
Planet, edited by Celia Deane-Drummond (London: Equinox, 2006), 210.
6
de Lubac, S.J., Henri. The Eternal Feminine: A Study on the Text of Teilhard de Chardin. Translated by René
Hague (New York: Harper & Row, 1971), 15.
7
Ibid., 10.
8
Pramuk, Sophia, 263, 261, 278, 217, 218, 262.
9
de Lubac, Eternal Feminine, 10.
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