Tradition And Evolution In Harmony, Unlike Modernism

How can Traditional Christianity relate to evolution? Not as the modernists attempt to do, by changing the  Traditional. All the Traditions of the Church from Christ and his Apostles can be maintained as the most authentic and, indeed, the sacred way to see and communicate with God. And Traditional Christian social and economic teachings must be maintained as the best way for men to live. Nothing of Tradition is rejected in the Theoevolutionary Church, as it is in Christian modernism.

What is added to the Traditional way of seeing and communicating with God---which is the glory of Tradition ---is the bio-spiritual path to God through evolution. Tradition creates the best, ordered, environment for evolution to take place, and it is most harmonious with the laws of nature and the natural law. We can affirm this in the new science of sociobiology, which finds Traditions as also often having been the best way to survive and reproduce successfully.

Our symbol shows Tradition and Evolution dynamically together. “Reason” gets it “food” for thought, as someone put it, from the above aspect of the symbol, where intellection or Revelation take place, and the below aspect of the symbol bring knowledge through observed phenomena. Truth depends on both, even though science tends to deny Revelation and Revelation denies science. Both work together in the Theoevolutionary Church.

Naturalism is represented by the lower half of our St. Andrew cross, supernaturalism by the upper half. Intellection in the upper half suggests the Omega of God, observed phenomena in the lower half suggests the Alpha of God. We are not asked to make a choice between these.

The Theoevolutionary Church Does Not Affirm Liberalism

The Theoevolutionary Church (TC) affirms evolution but it does not affirm Liberalism. The ideas of liberalism, developed in the Enlightenment, eg. the idea that each individual is completely free, that human nature is perfect, and that man’s human reason is as good as it gets, are not fully affirmed by TC.

Unlike the Traditionalists we see human nature evolving toward a higher and higher nature, human nature is not perfect and thus we are subject to change.

Man is not completely autonomous, as the liberals suggest. We are created with a nature that has a purpose–Godhood’s purpose. We obey the laws of Godhood when we obey the laws of nature, which including the ultimate evolution to Godhood.

Secular democracy, government from below rather than from above, is not the end of all political systems. The state could protect religion. None the less, light federalism, subsidiarity, and localism are the preferred political system.

This is not liberalism.

Direction In Evolution

To imply that genes “seek” or “strive” to survive and reproduce successfully, and that they create culture and even religion to enhance their survival, seems to give a “cause,” or “direction,” to the genes. But evolutionary thinkers do not really want to give a “cause” to natural selection, other than the cause of successful survival. Why should there be this “cause?” It just “is,” the evolutionists might say, sounding not unlike some religious people.

This conception of “striving,” is central to religion, as John Haught has written about in "Deeper Than Darwin." And it is logical, it seems to me, to apply the same “direction” of striving regarding religion as one does to the genes: striving for survival of the genes when hypertrophied, means striving for the immortality of the genes; and immortality has defined Godhood. This is the biological “teleology” that evolutionary thinking seems to lead to, although all evolutionary thinkers want to deny “direction” in evolution. There is direction in evolution, and life’s striving is directed toward immortal survival, which has always been defined as Godhood.

We identify the striving, the cause behind evolution as the activating Spirit-Will, which activates life before life is shaped by evolution.

Catholic Social And Economic Doctrine And Evolution

Place the biospirtual evolution to God in the capable hands of traditional Christian social and economic doctrine, rather than only radical eugenic programs.

The distribution of private property as widely as possible, a just use of capital, variety, and light federalism, provide a better environment for survival and reproduction success, and evolution, than any other doctrine yet presented, and these traditional doctrines have the practical advantage of being traditional and conservative, not radical, channeling the new into the old, not destroying all that has gone before.

Caring for the poor, as we are rightly asked to do, never did mean Communism or the devolution of the Church. Those living in the world, the healthy, the intelligent, share of themselves and their goods when their own possessions are in excess of their own present and future needs. A church without possessions could not feed the poor. Those living in religious communities, who have no possessions, communally share.

The position of  the Theoevolutionary Church is that we can survive and reproduce and evolve to Godhood best with the traditional social and economic doctrines of the traditional Church, enlarged with knowledge of Cattell's Beyondism.

Reattaching the Gordian Knot

Whether evolution moves from the simple to the complex, or back again from the complex to the simple in natural selection, it is the “striving” that seems to remain constant. You may say that it is only the genes that are striving, or you may say that the human being is striving, but it is still striving.

To claim that the striving is pointless or blind or directionless, as many physical materialists do, is as unscientific as saying that the striving has a direction or purpose, as many theologians say. Neither are empirically proven.

It is at the juncture of “striving” that the Gordian Knot between science and religion, matter and spirit can be reattached. Matter in evolution and spirit in theology are both striving for immortality, matter calls it biological or genetic immortality, religion calls it spiritual or the soul’s immortality.

And immortality, whether biological or spiritual, is Godhood. Thus religion and science can be joined, thanks to the striving of life.

(For excellent thinking somewhat related to this, see John Haught’s “Deeper Than Darwin” John Haught

Addition Not Deletion

Evolution is an addition to, not a deletion of Church Tradition, and it does not affect the validity of the church, in my opinion.

I affirm the traditional conservative principle that new additions must be channeled into tradition and custom, and must not destroy tradition and custom.

The symbol of  the Theoevolutionary Church suggests, among other things, the synthesis of evolution and tradition.

The common people, the laity, never desire change, they prefer stability in religious concerns, but this is not why one holds to tradition. The traditional church reveals much of the nature of the God we hope to evolve to. These revelations are almost as important as evolving to God. The traditional church also presents the virtues and morals that make living and evolving possible in this world and the next.

Parts And The Whole

The fall of man was not described best
by Rousseau, it was Aristotle
who understood we can be happy
living in the lap of civilization,
the fall of man was about fleeing
from what we are, and the scars of
trying to change remain; we are the same,
the liberators did not see us
as ecologically whole, they used
seductive arts to sell us only parts.

Change And Custom In The Theoevolutionary Church

The Theoevolutionary Church (TC) does not merely make an obligatory bow to custom and tradition, it fully affirms Conservatism.TC needs to be channeled into custom and tradition. (For an excellent debate on change versus custom, see The American Conservative, “On The Next Conservatism.” Feb 12 2007) amconmag.com

Evolution as a subject within the Church has not so much “evolved,” our understanding has become clearer. Evolution to God has always been here, we have not seen it clearly. The challenge is to include change in Conservatism, to channel change into the current of custom, as Burke put it.

This understanding will only gradually arrive. We see and experience God or the Spirit Within with revealed religion, we bio-spiritually evolve to God with our knowledge of science and religion.

What We Know And Do Not Know

How God came to have permanent existence, and why the cosmos is set up to allow evolution within it, is not known. The Great Religions say that God has always been the ground of Being and Becoming.

We may not know why or how God exists until we attain Godhood, or until we are far more intelligent and have far higher consciousness than we do now.

We have the concepts that God exists permanently, and natural selection in evolution seeks permanence, eternal representation.  Religion has examined Godhood by examining the soul within, among other things, and science has examined evolution. The Evolutionary Christian Church combines these findings with the evolution of life to Godhood.

James N. Gardner’s "Biocosm" hypothesis

The Biocosm hypothesis from 2003 is an interesting take on the cosmos, although, of course, James N. Gardner is not an Evolutionary Catholic.

Looking Backward and Forward In Religion and Evolution

Religion looks back to the beginning where it finds God, and examines God by way of the Spirit and Soul within us, which is intimately related to God. Biological evolution, defined in the Theoevolutionary Church (TC), looks forward to God at the end of evolution, whom we evolve to if we are successful in evolution. Both religion and evolution define the same God, but traditional religion has centered on the God seen inwardly whereas we center on Godhood reached outwardly through evolution.  This is the Twofold Path.

Religion is almost deductive, first seeing God and then showing God in particulars. Evolution is almost inductive, evolving particulars to a universal God. We can also say that God is reached by involution in religion, and by evolution in biological religion.

Seeing or knowing God in Traditional religion, difficult as this is, is not nearly as difficult as materially-supermaterially evolving to Godhood. But both ways can help each other. Religion helps us better understand the God we are evolving to, and evolution helps us actually reach the God we see in religion.

Traditional Christianity, with its most ancient rites and long tradition is the Western way to see God, to reach God, and it also provides the best conservative environment for evolving successfully to Godhood. The Theoevolutionary Church emphasizes higher intelligence and higher consciousness in evolution, without deemphasizing the traditional virtues and morals of Christianity.

The New Remnant

Nock and Eliot achieved a first base
and not the summit, another lamp was lit
near the peak by E. O. Wilson where
the ancient rivers meet, at the well of
Mimir; now we will have a religion
that includes science, an alliance of
two ages; the stage is set, the new remnant
must live with slow change and a small range of
influence, ride Evola’s tiger until
the Evolutionary Christian Church
becomes the deeper myth.

Response To Naysayers

Traditional religion has been steadily losing to science and evolution. It seems to me that an attempt to reconcile these antagonists deserves consideration. The Evolutionary Christian Church attempts to keep Tradition intact while adding bio-spiritual evolution, thereby reconciling implacable foes. If religion and science cannot be reconciled Traditional religion will eventually become virtually extinct, the barbarians will further advance, and Western Civilization will lose at least half its history and soul. Losing half your history and soul is not good for successful survival and reproduction, which everyone is concerned with.

I say to Traditional Religion, the New Right, Science and to orthodox Racialists: life is not perfect ideology, let’s try to reconcile these antagonism or we soon may all sink.

The Theoevolutionary Church Is Not A Hybrid

Both religion and evolution can be described as seeking immortality. Religion has seen and experienced deep glimpses of that immortality which it defines as God or Heaven. Science has not seen or experienced this immortality but continues to seek to define it with mathematical equations or physical models, which are its form of seeing and experiencing. Religion has defined values and morals, which it says lead to God or immortality, and science/evolution (e.g. sociobiology) has affirmed these very same religious values and morals as tending to lead to successful survival and reproduction.

The Theoevolutionary Church is a combination of religion and evolution/science, but not a “hybrid,” since both positions are trying to see, experience and define the same depth, or truth, or immortality. Christianty provides the religion and values and the deeper sense of God and immortality; science provides the abstract and technical definitions of the nature of life in evolution, although science has yet to affirm the “goal” of the genes seeking immortality as Godhood, but it has acknowledged that the selfish genes seek immortality.

No controversial or volatile new application of eugenics is called for since Christianity provides the values and morals for successful survival and reproduction, and for evolution. For example, Cattell's Beyondism can work in harmony with Catholic social philosophy. Conservative stability offers the best overall opportunity for successful survival and reproduction. The only “innovation”–aside from the overall synthesis of Christianity and evolution–is to emphasize that along with concern for the weak, we value higher intelligence and higher consciousness, remembering that God is the highest intelligence and highest consciousness. We are trying to evolve to Godhood, which is an extremely difficult thing to accomplish. Valuing higher intelligence and higher consciousness is more fully valuing the glory of God’s creation.

Religion is not “merely” the way to “experience” God, difficult as that is to do, the Theoevolutionary Church says that to fully experience God we must evolve to Godhood, to become God through evolution. Just as we have been taught that both the body and soul will be resurrected and that we are a soul and body combined, so also we become God as a synthesis of both matter and spirit. That is, reaching God does not mean "merely" experiencing God or seeing God spiritually within human bodies, it means evolving our soul and spirit within our bodies to Godhood, far beyond humanhood. This contradicts the Gnostic/Platonic perspective which tends to devalue the material world.

Religion can offer both “The Virtual Way” to see and experience God within and “The Real Way” to evolve to God through the application of its values and morals. Science can offer to define both the Virtual Way and the Real Way in scientific terms, and perhaps eventually in religious terms.

No Reason To Change The Mass But Need To Add A New Mass

The canon of the traditional Catholic Mass, according to Coomaraswamy and many others, consists of parts instituted by Christ Himself, and a few sacred prayers added by the Apostles under Divine inspiration. The resulting traditional Mass really is the “Holy of Holies.” God is reached in this Mass more deeply and truly than He is reached in any other Christian institution. And in deeply and truly reaching God we can begin to better know whom we are evolving to, which is the "innovation" in direction I condone. Tradition and evolution flow together in the Twofold Path. However, a new Mass of Joy for the Evolutionary Outward Path is needed.

Soft Eugenics?

Q. You say “evolve.” How do you propose to do that in the Christian Church?

A. Tell the people to have large families, breed, and appreciate more the intelligent, and higher consciousness among you, even as you appreciate the meek.

Q. That is all?

A. In a world gone mad, with lost morals and values, those who follow this advice will evolve successfully.

Q. No eugenics?

A. Appreciate more the intelligent, and higher consciousness among you, even as you appreciate the meek. Godhood is the highest intelligence and has the highest consciousness: emulate Godhood.

Q. But the world is over populated.

A. If you take care of the land, and the people on the land, and follow political structures relating to subsidiarity, federalism, and small is beautiful, over- population will take care of itself. This is an affirmation of family life, first and foremost. Be fruitful and multiply, the Bible said.

Technological Advancement And the Theoevolutionary Church

As the 21st century develops, George Dvorsky has come up with his must-know terms in science, technology and philosophy for the “expert generalist,” so that we may understand the Big Picture past, present and future.

As I examined the list: Sentient Developments, I was struck with how much an overall religious worldview will be needed to synthesize these new developments, assuming we can survive to experience these advances. Christianity, and more specifically, the Theoevolutionary Church, will need to provide a healthy structure for these developments.

Technological development will create radical social disruptions beginning around the mid-point of the 21st century. Most of the creaters and engineers will expect or even demand total freedom to develop what they please without moral restrictions. It will be the task of religion to apply the traditional seven Christian virtues, the ten commandments, the eight Beatitudes and the six precepts of the Traditional Church to these technological developments, while at the same time the Theoevolutionary Church may welcome technologies that help us evolve to Godhood.

The list of terms includes:
Accelerating change, the Anthropic Principle, artificial General Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Bayesian Rationality, Cosmological Eschatology, Engineered Negligible Senescence, Existential Risks, Extended Identity, The Fermi Paradox, Friendly AI, Human Enhancement, Human Exceptionalism, Information Theoretic Death, Mass Automation, Memetic Engineering, Mind Transfer, Molecular Assembler, Neurodiversity, Neural Interface Device, Noosphere, Open Source, Participatory Panopticon, Political Globalization, Post-Scarcity Economy, Quantum Computation, Radical Luddism, Remedial Ecology, Simulation Argument, Soft Paternalism, and Technological Singularity.

Mr. Dvorsky gives no suggestion, of course, for the Theoevolutionary Church which should be the paternal and ethical foundation for dealing with these coming technological advances. It seems to me that God is the “postbiological superintelligence” they are attempting to invent. It is another virtual God, whereas the real God must be not merely simulated, however impressive the simulation; we must join God, become God, evolve to God, not merely simulate God. This suggests that extending personhood artificially outside the human sphere is not the central direction that evolution must go, it is the human being who can be extended through evolution. The Darwinian process continues, even as we may learn to manipulate it. Let us be directed by the humane considerations of the church.

We would not approve of radical Luddism, the dangers of modern technology are only dangerous when they are unhinged from traditional religious morality. The “libertarian paternalism” we would approve of would be directed by the subsidiarity and federalism of the Traditional Church, upgraded by the Theoevolutionary Church.

Traditional religious sages have been experiencing God by way of soul-recognition for many centuries, now computers may be seeking the same experience. Both are more or less virtual experiences. God is real, not virtual.

Technology can move in the direction of bio-spiritual evolution to Godhood, applying the traditional social teachings of the church, which supplies the best environment for living and evolving in the world. We evolve in the direction of God, who was seen by Christ and other great religious sages, long before modern technology.

These complicated issues will need to be further examined.

Involution and Evolution

Involution: Harkening back, archeological-like, and mystically, to where it all began, where God was first seen, and examining the soul within as an aspect of God, and seeing the spirit-will as the the impulse of evolution. This is more or less the method of tradition and the revealed religions.

Evolution: The movement toward actually becoming or joining with Godhood. The very same God examined inwardly by involutionists and by the revealed religion, but a Godhood whom we evolve to, if we are successful, at the culmination of evolution.

Stuck With Conservatism

Apparently I am stuck with developing revolutionary religious ideas while affirming Conservatism. The term “revolutionary conservative” makes little sense to me—“evolutionary conservatism” is only slightly better. Conservatism is Conservatism. I am not a revolutionary. One doesn’t tear down existing institutions. Conservatism provides the healthy and moral way to change; 99 of 100 new mutations don’t survive. I accept this, although it often puts me out in the hinterland.

If Conservatives Prevail In The Church

Are there two Catholic Churches, pre and post Vatican II? If the radicals on both ends have their way there will be a split, another reformation, two Catholic Churches.

If conservatives prevail, the modernists and traditionalists will be joined together. Conservatives, e.g. Edmund Burke, taught us that history and real tradition don’t yield to idealistic, universalist schemes or dreams on either side.

Conservatives understand that history must be acknowledged, slow change is realistic, natural; perfection is not possible, until we attain Godhood; and evolution makes this possible.

Vatican II nudged the church from a radical traditional to a conservative position, and I, for one, think that is good.