THE NEW COSMOLOGY

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THE NEW COSMOLOGY

• A CONTEXT FOR THE IGNATIAN EXERCISES
• PART ONE

Presentation by the Janet and Ron Nimer at
the CLC National Assembly, July 2004.
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THE NEW COSMOLOGY

• WHAT IS A COSMOLOGY
• COSMOLOGIES THAT HAVE GUIDED HUMAN HISTORY
• WHY A NEW COSMOLOGY IS NEEDED
• THE UNIVERSE AS STORY
• BENEFITS OF THE NEW COSMOLOGY

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WHAT IS A COSMOLOGY?

• HOW HUMANS EXPERIENCE THEMSELVES IN RELATION TO
  THE COSMOS
• LENS THROUGH WHICH REALITY IS VIEWED AND
  INTERPRETED (WORLDVIEW)
• HOW THINGS ARE
• WHAT REALLY MATTERS
• GIVES MEANING AND PURPOSE TO LIFE
• (CORE VALUES AND BELIEF SYSTEMS)
• BASIS FOR CREATION STORIES

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COSMOLOGIES THAT HAVE GUIDED WESTERN HISTORY

• EARLY HUMANS (36000 BCE)
• AGRICULTURAL AGE (12000 BCE 3500 BCE)
• AXIAL PERIOD (3500 BCE 200 CE)
• MEDIEVAL AGE (800 CE 1500 CE)
• MODERN AGE (1600 CE - Mid 1900S)
• POST-MODERN AGE (Mid 1900S
  PRESENT)

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EARLY HUMANS (HUNTER GATHERER PERIOD

• ONE WITH NATURE
• REVERENCE FOR ANIMAL POWERS
• EMPHASIS ON COOPERATION
• FEMININE SIDE OF SOUL DOMINATED
• WORSHIP OF THE LIFE-GIVING POWERS OF MOTHER
  GODDESS
• MATRILINEAR COMMUNITIES
• WOMEN PREPARED AND LED RITUALS

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AGRICULTURAL AGE (12000 BCE 3500 BCE)

• SETTLED IN VILLAGES
• DOMESTICATED ANIMALS
• CULTIVATED CROPS (FOOD SURPLUSES)
• MADE HAND TOOLS
• USED ORNAMENTALS
• ELABORATE BURIAL CUSTOMS
• PATRIARCHY EMERGES
• WARS AND DOMINATION SYSTEMS BEGIN TO EMERGE

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AXIAL PERIOD (3500 BCE 200 CE)

• SINGULAR DIETY THAT IS TRANSCENDENT
• GENESIS - STORY OF CREATION FROM
  BABYLONIAN-SUMERIAN CULTURE
• THE HUMAN, THE PINNACLE OF CREATON
• DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN WORLDLY AND OTHER-WORLDLY
  DOMAINS
• INDIVIDUAL MORALITY TAKES ON COSMIC SIGNIFICANCE
  VIS A VIS (TRIBAL ACCOUNTABILITY)
• DUALISTIC THINKING EMERGES

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MEDIEVAL (PRE-MODERN AGE)(800 CE 1500 CE)

• GREAT CHAIN OF BEING
• GRAND UNIFIED COSMOLOGICAL SYSTEM
• EXPANDING SPHERES
• EARTH, THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE
• EVERYTHING CONNECTED IN HIERARCHY
• PATRIARCHY DOMINATES
• ADOLESCENT VIEW IN USE OF POWER
• VIOLENCE COMMONPLACE

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MODERN AGE (1600 CE - Mid 1900S)

• UNIVERSE IS A VAST MACHINE
• EARTH AND PLANETS REVOLVE AROUND
• THE SUN IN A SOLAR SYSTEM HELD TOGETHER BY
  GRAVITY
• EVERYTHING CONSISTS OF ATOMS
• UNDERSTANDING THE PARTS WILL LEAD TO
  UNDERSTANDING THE WHOLE
• BY CONQUERING NATURE, HUMANS CAN KNOW THE MIND
  AND ESSENCE OF GOD
• I THINK, THEREFORE, I AM DESCARTE

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MODERN AGE (1600 CE - Mid 1900S)

• ENLIGHTENMENT
• KNOWLEDGE IS FOUNDED AND GROUNDED IN ABSOLUTE
  TRUTH
• HUMANS POSSESS WITHIN THEMSELVES THE MEANS OF
  THEIR OWN DELIVERANCE THROUGH
• GRACE OF CRITICAL REASON
• SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
• EMPIRICAL OBSERVATION

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MODERN AGE (1600 CE - Mid 1900S)

• ENLIGHTENMENT
• EMPIRICAL SCIENCE BECOMES THE MAJOR SOURCE OF
  KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH
• NEWTONS DISCOVERIES GIVE RISE TO AN EXPLOSION
  IN TECHNOLOGY
• INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTON
• UNPRECEDENTED ECONOMIC GROWTH

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POST-MODERN AGE (Mid 1900S PRESENT)

• THEORY OF RELATIVITY-
• ALBERT EINSTEIN - EDWIN HUBBELL
• UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING
• TIME
• SEQUENCE OF IRREVERSIBLE EVOLUTIONARY EVENTS
  
• - NOT A SERIES OF REPETITIVE CYCLES
• UNIVERSE IS AN UNFOLDING STORY
• PRECLUDES EXPLANATIONS ABOUT MEANING OR
  ULTIMATE PURPOSE THAT ARE ABSOLUTE

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POST-MODERN AGE (Mid 1900S PRESENT)

• QUANTUM PHYSICS
• WERNER HEISENBERG
• ATOMIC PARTICLES CHANGE WITH EVERY OBSERVATION
  AND MEASUREMENT
• INFLUENCED BY THE METHODS USED

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POST-MODERN AGE (Mid 1900S PRESENT)

• DAVID BOHM
• EXPLICATE ORDER
• UNIVERSE IS DYNAMIC - CARRYING THE PATTERNS
  AND ORDER OUT OF WHICH EVERYTHNG IN THE
  MATERIAL WORLD EMERGES
• IMPLICATE ORDER
• INVISIBLE SEA OF ENERGY IS THE MYSTERIOUS
  GROUND OF EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS

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POST-MODERN AGE (Mid 1900S PRESENT)

• PIERRE TEILHARD de CHARDIN
• SOUGHT TO RECONCILE THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION AND
  CHRISTIAN REVELATION
• EXAMINED THE HUMAN PHENOMENON
• RECOGNIZED
• SACRED PRESENCE IN EVERYTHING
• SACRAMENTAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MATTER
• CHRISTIFICATION OF EARTH
• SET THE STAGE FOR NEW COSMOLOGY

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POST-MODERN AGE (Mid 1900S PRESENT)

• NATURE OF REALITY DEFINED BY
• PERCEPTIONS,
• THE CONTEXT OF OUR LIVES (EXPERIENCE)
• LANGUAGE USED
• STORIES AND MYTHS CONVEY
• UNDERLYING TRUTHS THAT EXPLAIN HOW THINGS ARE AND
  WHAT REALLY MATTERS.

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WHY A NEW COSMOLOGY IS NEEDED

• CHRISTIAN BELIEF TRADITIONS ROOTED IN COSMOLOGY
  OF MEDIEVAL PERIOD
• POST- MODERN WORLDVIEW INFLUENCED BY SCIENCE AND
  TECHNOLOGY
• OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT PERIOD
• EXPLOITATION OF NATURE, RESOURCES, PEOPLE, AND
  OTHER LIFE FORMS
• LIMITED IN PERCEPTION VIS A VIS COMTEMPORARY
  REALITY
• UNABLE TO LAUNCH HUMANKIND INTO A SUSTAINABLE
  FUTURE

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WHY A NEW COSMOLOGY IS NEEDED

• OUR CONTEMPORARY STORY
• VIEWS MYTHS AS ACCOUNTS THAT ARE ABSOLUTE - NOT
  UNDERSTOOD AS EXPLANATORY METAPHORS
• IMPLIES THE HUMAN IS THE PINNACLE OF CREATION
• REJECTS THE NATURAL WORLD FOR THE SUPERNATURAL
• REINFORCES THE WORLDVIEW THAT MAN IS SUPERIOR TO
  NATURE, WOMAN, OTHER LIFE FORMS.

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WHY A NEW COSMOLOGY IS NEEDED

• DUALISMS AND SEPARATION DOMINATE VIEW OF REALITY
  
• SPIRIT SEPARATED FROM MATTER,
• BODY FROM SOUL,
• HUMAN FROM DIVINE, MANY OTHERS --
• DUALISMS AND SEPARATION CANNOT
• BRIDGE GAP BETWEEN NATIONS, RACES, RELIGIONS,
  AND GENDER.
• MEET THE NEEDS OF YOUNGER GENERATIONS STEEPED IN
  TECHNOLOGY AND CONSUMERISM.

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WHY A NEW COSMOLOGY IS NEEDED

• A COSMOLOGY ROOTED IN DUALISMS AND SEPARATION
  CANNOT
• MEET THE NEEDS OF THE MARGINALIZED
• ENGENDER JUSTICE LEADING TO DOMINATION-FREE
  SYSTEMS
• RESTORE THE BALANCE IN CREATION
• CREATE A HOLISTIC AND INTEGRAL COMMUNITY OF LIFE
• BRING ABOUT PEACE

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THE NEW COSMOLOGY

• SHARING QUESTION
• WHAT COSMOLOGY IS OPERATIVE IN YOUR LIFE?
• HOW DOES IT INFLUENCE YOUR WORLDVIEW (ATTITUDE,
  BEHAVIOR)?

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THE NEW COSMOLOGY, A CONTEXT FOR THE IGNATIAN
EXERCISESJuly, 2004Janet and Ron
NimerBibliographical Sources

• Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme, The Universe
  Story, Harper San Francisco, New York, NY. 1992.
  
• Kevin Bradt S.J., Story As A Way of Knowing,
  Sheed Ward, Kansas City, MO., 1997.
• Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics, Shambala
  Publishers, Berkeley, CA., 1975.
• Fritjof Capra, The Web of Life, Anchor Books,
  Double Day Dell Publishing Co., New York, NY,
  1996.
• Mary Conrow Coelho, Awakening Universe, Emerging
  Personhood, Wyndham Press, Lima , Ohio, 2002.
• Duane Elgin, Promise Ahead, Harper Collins
  Publishing Co., New York, NY, 2000.
• Carol Lee Flinders, The Values of Belonging,
  Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY, 2002.
• Ivone Gebara, Longing for Running Water,
  Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1991.
• John F. Haught, God After Darwin, Westview Press,
  Boulder, CO., 2000.
• Carmel Higgins, Toward a Sustainable Future, The
  Connector, July, 1999.
• Ursula King, Spirit of Fire, The Life and Vision
  of Teilhard de Chardin, Orbis Books,
• Maryknoll, NY., 1996.
• Ursula, King, Christ In All Things, Exploring the
  Spirituality of Teilhard de Chardin,
• Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY., 1997.
• David C. Korten, The Post-Corporate World ,
  Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.,
• San Francisco, CA. and Kumarian Press, West
  Hartford, CT., 1999.
• Diarmuid, OMurchu, Quantum Theology, The
  Crossroad Publishing Co., New York, NY, 1997.
• Diarmuid, OMurchu, Our World in Transition, The
  Crossroad Publishing Co., New York, NY, 1992
• Loyal Rue, Everybodys Story, State University of
  New York, Albany, NY, 2000.

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About the Presenters

• Ron and Janet Nimer
• Janet and Ron Nimer have been members of the
  Nicholas Owen CLC in the St. Louis area for the
  past sixteen years. They have experienced the
  Ignatian Nineteenth Annotation Retreat in
  Everyday Life (the Bridges Program) as well as
  the follow-up two year Prayer Companions Program.
  
• Janet has a spiritual companioning ministry and
  is currently a prayer guide in the Nineteenth
  Annotation Retreat. They are the parents of five
  daughters and have twelve grandchildren.