Goodness and Beauty
Pope Saint John Paul II said, “The artist has a special relationship to beauty. In a very true sense it can be said that beauty is the vocation bestowed on him by the Creator in the gift of “artistic talent.” (Letter to Artists, paragraph 3)
So the role of the artist whether a painter, writer, musician or any of the wonderfully diverse ways man has found to express his “artistic talent,” must be bound up with beauty. It is an inseparable part of his vocation. To truly understand the role of the artist in salvation history we must understand how to approach God in terms of beauty.
“God saw everything He had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
The word “good” is translated from the Greek word “kalon” which emulates the Hebrew word “towb.” “Kalon” is a word that carries with it a much more nuanced meaning than simply good. It is used 559 times in the Bible in 517 verses and is translated in a number of ways such as better, best, pleasing, mercy, prosperity and fair just to name a few.
In two verses in particular it is translated as beautiful.
“It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.” (2Samuel 11:2)
“He had brought up Hadas’sah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother; the maiden was beautiful and lovely…” (Esther 2:7)
It would not then be too much of a stretch to read Genesis 1:31 as,
“God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very beautiful.”
From the beginning, in the Old Testament, God made the world good and beautiful. In the New Testament, Saint Paul affirmed this teaching in his Letter to Timothy,
“For everything created by God is good (kalon), and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” (1Timothy 4:4)
Divine beauty is intrinsic to the created world. It is a part of all things.
Those gifted with creative ability rarely, if ever, are able to realize a creation exactly as they intended it to be. This is a manifestation of our fallen nature. Artists share only a small part of the creative power of God, and do so imperfectly. But God made the world perfect; He could not do otherwise. He is the perfect artist expressing His creative will perfectly. By this we mean that all of creation was made exactly as God intended it to be.
But through man’s disobedience and the envy of the devil, sin and death entered into the world. (Wisdom 2:24) The divine masterpiece of perfection and beauty was marred.
When a painting or a story or a musical composition develops a flaw, the artist will try to repair it. If it cannot be repaired it is understandable that the artist may then destroy or abandon the work and start fresh. Rather than destroy His work outright, God chose to repair it. Since it was man that caused the damage God allowed man to participate in the restoration of the world. The Hebrew verb “to create” as used in Genesis conveys an ongoing process rather than a completed act performed in the past. That is to say the world was created, is created, and will be created until its completion. The vocation of man is to work towards the perfection of creation, for the artist this vocation is related in a mysterious way to beauty.
The work of man is to renew or bring to perfection the world that was made imperfect through man’s disobedience to God. Each of us has been given a specific vocation to accomplish our part in this regeneration.
A Spirit of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness
The world is constantly being renewed or regenerated. By ancient tradition the Holy Spirit is associated with the creative act.
“… and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:2-3)
“When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewset the face of the ground.” (Psalms 104:30)
When we are baptized, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. The Spirit allows us to hear the Word of God yet remain hidden itself.
“I have laid up thy Word in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalms 119:11)
In the new covenant this idea is taken up and expanded upon.
“When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you in all the truth; for he will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” ( John 16:13)
The Holy Spirit is thus revealed as the Spirit of Truth, moving us to contemplate the Beauty and Goodness of God. The beauty of creation and the perfect beauty of the divinity are reconciled in the third person of the Most Holy Trinity.
A Spirit of Light
Genesis not only associates the Holy Spirit with the creative act but also with the divine light. This association continues in the Psalter and the Book of Isaiah.
“For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light do we see light,” (Psalms 36:9)
“I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)
“Then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.” (Isaiah 58:10)
In Christian thought, this light is recognized as transformative and abiding in every man.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.” (Matthew 6:22)
“The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world,”( John 1:9)
“And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 22:5)
This divine light, which enlightens every man, is the spark of the Holy Spirit that was imparted to man at his creation.
“…then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)
“And when He ha said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit,'” (John 20:22)
Man was created in the image and likeness of God. Man is of God’s race and more intimately associated with Him than any other creature.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image,'” (Genesis 1:26)
“Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man,” (Acts of the Apostles 17:29)
Man is essentially a creature of light and as such is attracted to the divine light. Man naturally seeks beauty, as it is a reflection of Him who is beauty perfected.
“One thing I have asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” (Psalms 27:4)
“But test everything; hold fast to what is good (kalon),” (1Thessalonians 5:21)
The greater the degree to which a person pursues the spiritual, the more the divine light of the Holy Spirit shines from within and the more beautiful that person becomes. A truly spiritual person is not only good but also beautiful in that they reflect the divine beauty.
Beauty from Emptiness
A beautiful spirit may shine even through a form that has been weakened. Drawing on both old and new testaments the early church fathers developed the doctrine of “kenosis” from a Greek word meaning emptiness. In the context of a theology of beauty kenosis refers to a humiliation of form, an emptying of one’s self, so that the divine beauty shines more brightly. In the Old Testament this theme is taken up in the suffering servant.
“You are the fairest of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you for ever.” (Psalms 45:2)
“For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2)
In Christian thought this “kenotic veil” is the virtue of humility. Humility dims the beauty of the form and is a guard against the temptation of vanity.
“So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23:28)
“Let not yours be the outward adorning with braiding of hair, decoration of gold, and wearing of fine clothing, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” (1Peter 3:3-4)
The so-called “Fools for Christ” took this idea to the extreme. These were individuals who denied themselves everything, including personal dignity, so that Christ may shine more radiantly through them. In such cases the ugliness of the infirmity becomes transfigured to serve the spirit within and becomes an icon of suffering and as such beautiful to behold.
By contrast there is ugliness without spirit, a perversion of natural being that borders on the demonic. Form without content, a hollow shell, it is the antithesis of being. When it manifests itself as art it shows us a world without God. Manifested in our perception of the created world, it offers us a glimpse of Hell, the negation of all that is good and beautiful and true.
An Act of Praise
Recognizing this inner beauty, this divine spark, within all things and drawing it out for others to see is the vocation of the artist. This is an act of Praise. Created in the image of the Creator, man is sub-creator, artist and poet. His ultimate destiny is to praise God. Through all the covenants described in scripture, this thread is consistent. When God creates the world He is in effect creating a temple. In that temple He places man to cultivate the temple, renew it, and transform it into an offering to God.
“And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.'” (Genesis 1:28)
Throughout all of scripture we see that our ultimate destiny is to sing the praises of God, and that praise is intimately linked with His beauty.
“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him! Worship the Lord in Holy Array;” (1Chronicles 16:29) Holy Array is frequently translated as “beauty of holiness.”
“…and when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise Him in Holy Array, as they went before the army, and say, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever.'” (2Chronicles 20:21)
“Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; worship the Lord in Holy Array.” (Psalms 29:2)
“Worship the Lord in Holy Array; tremble before Him, all the earth!” (Psalms 96:9)
“Which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory,” (Ephesians 1:14)
“Worthy is the lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing,” (Revelation 5:12)
“And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God,” (Revelation 7:11)
“And the twenty four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God who is seated on the throne, saying. ‘Amen. Hallelujah.'” (Revelation 19:4)
A Theology of Beauty
God is perfect beauty and all that He creates is beautiful. By rejecting God our first parents rejected beauty, but through the workings of the Holy Spirit, God calls to us through our natural attraction to all that is beautiful. Ultimately our true vocation and final destiny is to praise God in His Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
Beauty then is the unique vocation of the artist. His talent has been given him to explore this vocation. His work reflects the splendor of God, brings hope and joy to His people, and lifts hearts and minds to His divine beauty. Through artistic ability, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, the artist is called upon to unite the primal beauty of creation with the divine beauty of God. Like everyone else his ultimate destiny is to forever sing the praises of God.
And there will be obstacles. The world may attack the work of the artist and belittle his efforts. It may praise the ugly and shallow over the beautiful and sacred. But this is the artist’s battle as well. It is a battle Saint Paul prepared us for.
“For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)