Hours of the Universe by Ilia Delio – Book Review.
In Hours of the Universe, Delio draws heavily on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and St Francis of Assisi, but also from a wide variety of scientists, philosophers, and theologians. She argues that we are commencing a new Epoch, one in which humanity must rise above its current selfish domination of nature and the environment, or risk planetary extinction. This will require an acceptance of the interconnectedness of all beings and a maturity into unitive consciousness.
A major strength of the book is Delio’s sense of urgency. She argues that theology can no longer remain tied to medieval categories while science has undergone profound paradigm shifts, and she calls for a new religious imagination that can speak credibly to a world marked by quantum physics, ecological fragility, and technological change. The book’s structure, modeled on the Hours of the liturgy, reinforces her point that the universe itself is the new monastery: a place of contemplation, discernment, and participation in God’s ongoing creative activity.
Delio is at her most provocative when she suggests that religion must evolve if it is to remain spiritually and culturally relevant. She does not merely urge reform; she envisions a deeper transformation of religious consciousness, one that moves beyond inherited institutional forms toward a more universal, integrative spirituality. For some readers, this will feel exhilaratingly expansive; for others, it will seem too speculative or dismissive of tradition.
What also emerges strongly is her ecological and cosmological concern. The book links human flourishing to planetary survival, insisting that domination, fragmentation, and narrow individualism are untenable in an interdependent universe. In that sense, the work is both theological and prophetic: it asks not only what we believe, but what kind of species we will become.
This book was published in 2021, about two years before The Not-Yet God, so readers may prefer to tackle her later book. Nevertheless, I found the book challenging but thought-provoking. I can recommend Hours of the Universe to those with a present and future orientation.
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