Attaining real Godhood requires the affirmation of material life and evolution not the rejection of material life and evolution

Josef Pieper defined true “leisure” as orientating ourselves to the whole of existence, and to be orientated not in material things but from material things, and that is the general position of all serious asceticism, but it is gravely mistaken.

Ascetics all agree that being “truly human” means being free from the material world, which is like saying being truly human is not being human or being dead. Why this loathing of the material and the human?  Asceticism is directed toward blocking all material desires to experience the exclusive bliss that comes from this very difficult and sacrificial experience, which is interpreted as experiencing God or the Father.

We cannot be free from material things unless we are virtually dead, which is indeed what all serious ascetics advocate. For example, “...whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Luke 9:23-24. The Vedas, the Bible,
the Tripitaka, all declare this goal of asceticism.

But Nietzsche was wrong to say that therefore God is dead---although he meant that religions which advocate blocking all material desires are dead. Real Godhood cannot be reached by blocking all material desires because real ascending levels of Godhood are reached only by way of positive material evolution.

So religion need not die from science, science need not die from religion, and humans need not die to the material world to experience Godhood. Theological materialism not theological spiritualism is called for. Attaining real Godhood requires the affirmation of material life and evolution.