In THE PHENOMENON OF MAN (Le Phenomne Humain, 1955) by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin a French philosopher, paleontologist, and Jesuit priest describes evolution as a process that leads to increasing complexity, culminating in the unification of consciousness.
The book was finished in the 1930s, but was published posthumously in 1955.
THE PHENOMENON OF MAN set forth a sweeping account of the unfolding of the cosmos and abandoned the traditional interpretations of creation in the Book of Genesis in favor of a less strict interpretation. This displeased the Roman Curia and his own order, The Jesuits, who thought that the book undermined the doctrine of original sin developed by Saint Augustine so his book was not published until after his death many years later.
However, later statements by officials such as Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict were more supportive of Teilhard de Chardin.
The foreword to THE PHENOMENON OF MAN was written by one of the key scientific advocates for natural selection and evolution of the 20th Century, and co-developer of the modern synthesis in biology, Julian Huxley.
Reference to THE PHENOMENON OF MAN can be found on page: 13.
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