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Thomas Berry

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Author

The Resume

    (November 9, 1914-June 1, 2009)
    Born in Greensboro, North Carolina
    Birth name is William Nathan Berry
    Cultural historian, world religion scholar
    Books include 'The Dream of the Earth' (1988), 'The Universe Story' (1992), and 'The Great Work: Our Way into the Future' (1999)
    Wrote essays 'Economics: Its Effects on the Life Systems of the World' and 'The Earth: A New Context for Religious Unity'
    Served as president of the American Teilhard Association (1975–87)
    Featured in the 2007 documentary 'What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire'

Why he might be annoying:

    He advocated population control.
    He was a pessimist with a cheery disposition.
    He joined a monastery because he found the world around him 'crassly commercial' (it was during the Depression).
    He advised his readers to 'put the Bible on a shelf for 20 years.'
    He rejected the labels 'theologian' and 'ecotheologian,' calling them too narrow. And so he coined the term 'geologian.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the third of 13 children.
    He taught and studied in China for several years.
    He wrote two books on Asian religions (Buddhism and Hinduism mainly).
    Upon joining the monastery, he took the name Thomas after Thomas Aquinas.
    He was one of the first spiritual leaders to tie Earth’s ecological crisis directly to Christianity.
    He expanded on Teilhard de Chardin's ideas about evolution and faith being mutually compatible.
    He said: 'It is false to say that humanity is the most excellent being in the universe. The most excellent being in the universe is the universe itself.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying