Human beings are characterized by a sense of beauty, beauty demands our attention. There is no escape to the aesthetic task.
If aesthetic practice is everyone’s responsibility, this is particularly true for us Christians. Doing aesthetics is not so much a theological choice, but a theological necessity.
- It is no exaggeration to argue that the evangelical church has largely neglected theological research on the nature of beauty and aesthetics; in general.
- Reflections and texts on the subject are produced by professionals of philosophy and in the specific field of aesthetics.
- The edges.
- It shouldn’t be like that.
Here are five factors that contributed to the lack of specifically evangelical contributions to the debate.
This spectrum obscures a markedly Christian approach to beauty and aesthetics. In the history of the Church there has always been a tendency to erect a dichotomy between the spiritual and the physical; in general, this dualism generates an asceticism that makes Christians deeply suspicious of them. the elements in which beauty finds its primary mediation: the body and the senses. As holistic beings we are, however, sensory experience plays a fundamental role in our training, cognitive, affectively and volitively.
A truly Christian vision of beauty and aesthetics could allow us to better discern and understand God’s plan for sensory pleasures, because if our affections are not rooted in biblical parameters and guided by them, they will be false and not true.
This suspicion comes from the fear of idolatry, that is, beauty and aesthetics have often been overlooked for its appeal.
But God does not forbid the admiration of beauty, nor the production of beautiful things; yes, forbids its worship, idolatry is a problem of the heart, not of beauty, in fact, a theoentric vision of beauty will evict idolatry, placing aesthetics as something that indicates worship, in the end we understand that Jesus is the image of God who perfectly describes the beauty of the Father (Col 1:15-20; 2Co 3. 12-18; Heb 1. 2-3).
After the Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the divorce of transcendental realities (truth, goodness and beauty) was a separation between, on the one hand, the beautiful, and on the other, the parameters that give meaning to the beautiful, which is, good and truth. When transcendentals are compartmentalized, beauty becomes mere sentimentality, truth becomes only a historical fact and a goodness, an empty moralism. Unfortunately, as Patrick Sherry observed, theologians treat beauty like Cinderella, but truth and kindness as their ugly half-sisters.
A more balanced view of the transcendental will help generate a more accurate view of the Christian life and the place of beauty in Christian theology; in fact, it is one of the most neglected areas of Christian apologetics in modern theology.
Beauty and aesthetic experience are often overlooked because they are not directly useful in everyday life. Dennis Hollinger noted that pragmatic, results-oriented cultures often perceive aesthetics as superfluous and unrelated to spirituality.
However, beauty has the power to lead us to a sphere of life and spirituality that would never reach a purely rational approach, so the dangers of limiting beauty to its utilitarian value are two: reducing the God of creation and stealing humanity from humanity. a vast field to explore.
5. – allergy to natural theology and general revelation
This allergic reaction has a long and remarkable history in Christianity. Yet, over the centuries, many people echo the Psalmist in treating creation as?Work of God’s hands? (Ps 19:1), comparing it to a beautiful work of art in itself and expressing the personality of the Creator.
Although the natural world is not so much a source of theology as a source of inspiration for theology, beauty and aesthetic experience can be used in a meaningful analogy with the Creator of all things. Jonathan Edwards knew it well: “When we revel in flowering fields and light breezes, we can consider that we only see the emanations of the sweet benevolence of Jesus Christ. “
If these five observations can disturb us, the whole Hope of the Church is not lost by the theological integration between beauty and aesthetics for Christian life. In many ways, the theological foundation of beauty and aesthetics opens the way to a specifically Christian understanding of this beautiful beauty. World.
As Christians, we understand that the revelation of beauty is an act of self-revelation of God’s love. Affirming the theological foundations of beauty and aesthetics means pointing only to God as the source and substance of true beauty. And not only have we been made, in your image of aesthetic creatures, but we have the ability to appreciate and cultivate the beautiful.
It is precisely at this stage that Christian thinkers are the true aestes, we understand that all our desire for beauty is finally satisfied in Jesus Christ, since the Spirit gives us eyes to see, in this sense Christians must get ahead of everyone in discussions. about beauty and aesthetics.
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