Although the word ‘beauty’ evokes such varied impressions for each of us, we all desire it in one form or another. Even if we don’t think about it much, there are certain encounters that take our breath away.
The subject of beauty is expansive, wrapped in endless forms – nature, music, speech, colour, form, ideas and ethics, all originating in God’s creation of the universe from nothing, and his pronouncement of it being “good.”
Theories of beauty help us understand our world, our culture, and our deepest longings.
Historically, three theories of beauty existed
• Beauty in the broadest sense: The original Greek concept of beauty considered thoughts and ideas, in addition to form, colour and sound (the ideal of good). This concept included moral beauty and ethics.
• Beauty in the purely aesthetic sense (in creation and art), including mental products (poems, drama, readings, speech) as well as colours and sounds. This notion of beauty was, over time, embraced in the European culture.
• Beauty in the aesthetic sense restricted only to sight; only shape and colour could be considered in the category of beauty. (Stoics adopted this concept).
We often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder – that it is subjective. But the Great Theory insisted that beauty is objective. It is neither one nor the other; both opposing theories are true.
The Great Theory
Formulated in early times, the Great Theory stated that beauty consisted in the proportion of parts – the size, equality and number of parts and their interrelationships. Architecture is one main example of this. The beauty of palaces and cathedrals were judged by the symmetry and complexity of their columns, turrets, etc. Music was also expected to hold to symmetry, except the measure here was tempo rather than space. German philosopher, mathematician and scientist Gottfried Liebniz wrote, “Music charms us, though its beauty consists merely in a correspondence of numbers.”
Pythagoreans said that thanks to numbers, everything looks beautiful. Aristotle agreed, as did St. Augustine centuries later. Plato took this concept a step farther by adding, “… the absence of measure is ugly.” Plotinus expanded the theory of beauty by adding illumination as a criteria, claiming that brilliance (i.e. gold, silver, stars and night sky) were also beautiful because of the light.
How we encounter beauty
Our Western culture is pervaded by a narrow perception of beauty often related to the female human form, most often Caucasian. It embraces a dominant industry that promotes an infinite variety of cosmetic products and services claiming to transform us into one of the ‘beautiful’ people, to be more acceptable and loved. A much broader vision of beauty is ours to explore if we trade our narrow focus for a panoramic view.
Numerous philosophers have described beauty as a greeting. When you encounter it, the thing of beauty welcomes you. We experience this especially in nature. Augustine described beauty as “a plank in the waves of the sea,” agreeing with Homer that beauty is life saving. It nourishes our spirit.
Wonder is a creaturely function. When we encounter beauty, we are in wonder at the object of beauty. We are gob-smacked, awe-struck. Proust said that beauty quickens. It adrenalizes. It makes the heart beat faster. It makes life more vivid, animated, worth living. When we encounter beauty, it takes us out of ourselves, into the thing of beauty.
A gracious gift
Author Andy Crouch (For the Beauty of the Church – edited by David O. Taylor) says that when God created the world and more specifically planted the Garden of Eden, he not only included plants for food to be used as nutrition and helpful to the body, but also plants and trees for simply the enjoyment of ‘beholding’. They are beautiful (vs 9). Genesis says that the fruit of the garden was good to eat, and pleasing to the eye. Taste and see that God is good. Taste provides physical flourishing and sight, aesthetic flourishing.
In the beginning, God created beauty simply for his own pleasure and for the enjoyment of humanity. Some created objects have no practical ‘use’. Their only purpose is to be enjoyed. Why do most women so joyfully receive a bouquet of flowers? It is because flowers are not a practical gift. They are more meaningful exactly because they are un-useful. Crouch says, “The economy of grace overflows with the un-useful.” We feel loved and cared for when we receive gifts that have nothing to do with usefulness and everything to do with extravagance.
While God created a world with both practical and extravagant elements, He also is the author of culture. But more about that in Part 2.
Marion Van Driel delights in her roles as a wife, mother and grandmother; her soul is fed by both composing and composting. Music, words, form and colour are ingredients on which she thrives. She considers her garden a gift where family and friends gather to visit, heal, reflect and celebrate. Called as writer, artist, worship leader, gardener and (sometimes reluctant) follower of Christ, she bears evidence of God’s abundant grace without which she’d be someone else entirely.
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