The Universe Story (Book Review)

The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era -- a Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos; by (physicist) Brian Swimme and (catholic priest) Thomas Berry, Penguin 1994. ($24.95) -- Reviewed by Lloyd Geering, SOF NZ Newsletter #11, May 1995

By uniting the expertise of a physicist with that of an historian of human culture this book provides a fascinating story of the universe from its origin until now, including the earth, the evolution of life, leading to the evolution of human culture. It is mind-boggling and thought provoking. It emphasizes our human unity with reality itself. Here are a few quotes:

"The (human) mind that searches for contact with the Milky Way is the very mind of the Milky Way galaxy in search of its inner depths".

"Our new sense of the universe is itself a type of revelatory experience. Presently we are moving beyond any religious expression so far known to the human into a meta-religious age, that seems to be a new comprehensive context for all religions".

"To glory in a rising Gross Domestic Product with an irreversibly declining Gross Earth Product is an economic absurdity".

"It is the special capacity of the human to enable the universe and the planet Earth to reflect on and to celebrate, not simply the present moment, but the total historical process that enables this moment to be what it is."

 

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