My seminary library has old books they give away and every once and awhile I pick one up. Much less often do I get around to reading them. But today I was reading this old book (published 1947) called "Human Destiny," and had some thoughts to share...
Lecomte du Nouy wrote a book in 1947 called "Human Destiny." I probably never would have heard of it except it appeared on a used book shelf marked "free" and I'm a sucker for books that (a) have a title with "destiny" and (b) have this quote on the front jacket: "a book of such fundamental grasp and insight as cannot be expected to appear more than once or twice in a century." I wouldn't go so far, but here's my quick summary and thoughts.
Du Nouy's thesis: Humans have biologically evolved up until this point (so, through World War II), and now it is our moral imperative/challenge to evolve psychologically/mentally. Just like evolutionary biology, this psycho-evolution should be done together and not just individually. He claims (like many others at his time) that humans are the finish line for biology, the end of evolution. But we're not the end of the story. We were made for something greater, and now is our chance to participate in evolving into something greater. It is, as the title indicates, our "human destiny."
He puts a great deal of emphasis on our free will and choice between good and evil. We must be free to improve ourselves, "since [our] contribution to evolution will depend on the use [we] make of [our] liberty" (226). The choice between religion and science is a false choice (239-40). We must strive to integrate the two fields so that we do not make such terrible choices such as the Inquisition on the religious side and the Holocaust on the (arguably) scientific side.
He urges Christians specifically to live out the Christian ideal, and muses that scripture and sermons "have lost their power of conviction and that, consequently, other paths of access tot he heart, the intelligence, and the conscience of [humans] must be found " (241). He says that whatever is noble and true must be of God and as truth cannot contradict God, who is Truth. "Therefore, any [hu]man who is afraid of science does not possess a strong faith. (This is an answer to the religious extremists.)" (243). The pursuit of truth should be expansive and unlimited, yet he also states our goal "should be the attainment of human dignity with all its implications" (244).
I would say Du Nouy is thus a humanist who is very hopeful about the future: "He [any person] must overcome his dislikes and fix his vision on the beauty that drains from within; for that beauty is perhaps an illusion today, but it is the truth of tomorrow" (244). That's a pretty bold statement written on the heels of WWII. Also: "Let him combat and persuade himself before trying to persuade or combat others. Let him, by all the means of his disposal, concentrate his will on the construction of an unshakeable faith even though it be only a faith in the dignity and destiny of man" (245). And finally: "there is not other way toward human solidarity but the search and respect for individual dignity" (245).
I agree that our human dignity is tied up with our human destiny. Amnesty International's Director, William Schultz, edited a book recently called "The Future of Human Rights." I believe that we do not do enough to treat our fellow brothers and sisters in the human family with the respect and dignity that they deserve, not as the epitome of evolutionary success, but simply being created in the Image of God. May the Spirit of God direct our hearts, minds and bodies to honoring the larger body of humanity.
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