THOMAS BERRY: A CLASSIC BETWEEN RELIGION AND SCIENCE

Thanks to the combination of his attentiveness for spiritual life with an intuitive ecological sensibility, in his work Thomas Berry was able to propose a new relationship between religion and science. In particular, his encounter with Teilhard de Chardin was crucial for the development of an understanding of human beings as a phenomenon arising within the very evolutionary process of the universe. The present paper concentrates on three fundamental aspects of Berry’s works: first of all, the understanding of the contemporary ecological crisis in terms of a value crisis; secondly, the need to integrate Christian cosmology with scientific discoveries; and, finally, the idea of an emerging Ecozoic Era. The main aim of this research is to bring to light Berry’s call to achieve an understanding of both the psychic and physical dimensions of the universe in order to envisage human activity as an integral part of the ecosystem and to embrace healthier relationships between humans and the planet.