What is Beauty?

One of the classes I'm taking here at DTS is entitled A Christian View of Art. This class begins at 7:45 am and it is on Friday mornings and last for two and half hours. You would think one would need lots of coffee to make it through such a course. So far it has proved to be the exact opposite.

We had a very interesting conversation in class today about Aesthetics and I wanted to share it with you. What makes something beautiful or aesthetically pleasing. I study done by the University of Texas Austin showed that young children (with no influence of culture yet) from all around the world smiled or enjoyed the same set of images. The one thing these images all had in common was symmetry. We know from the Word that God is beautiful (Psalm 27:4, just to give one example). His beauty is the symmetry of all his attributes: omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, loving, patient, just, merciful, gracious, etc. . . We also know that God created us in his image. Everything he creates reveals His character, something of who He is. Therefore by definition we are creative, all of us. Making choices is a creative act. Difference is God created from nothing and we create from what exists. Ideally we should create in what reveals His nature and character. We should create with Integrity - what is true to it's creator.

This inevitably brought up the discussion of pornography. I was glad that it did because it always makes me angry when people say that pornography cannot be defined. (I'm pretty sure I know what it is when I see it. ) Our professor gave a very good definition of pornography that I don't believe most people are aware of. . .
Porno in Greek means evil, wrong or a "lie". Graphy means to write or portray. Therefore one could safely say that pornography is the portrayal of a lie. It is not the naked body part, it is the lie the work portrays that makes it pornography. Statues of Greek nudes are considered works of beauty, afterall the human form is beauty. It is not a lie. It was created by God. Pornography creates the lie that this relationship is free, it's available, it is self-indulgent. Beauty is found in truth. Pornography violates the truth God has set in place.

This inevitably brought up the discussion of vulgarity. If you are an actor playing a non-fictional character who always used "swear words", isn't it truth then to keep those words in your performance. Hollywood I believe takes this too far and uses this type of language for a shock value, but there can be truth there and in turn beauty in that performance.

This inevitably turned to a discussion of, is a Christian going against what they believe in playing a certain role or using language like this in a song, story or poem? Our professor suggested that there is a reason that Harry Potter was more successful than the Left Behind series. Left Behind classified people as either good or bad, which is not usually the case. Harry Potter deals with real human emotions and real struggles humans have. The classic good vs. evil. So this resonates with us. We have to be careful not to put ourselves or things into the "safe category" or as we like to call it the "Christian category". There is truth in art and truth comes from the Father. I heard Donald Miller speak once and it really stuck with me when he asked, "When did Christian become an adjective?". Anything that is good or true or just or right or beautiful comes from the Father not just those items which are labeled "Christian".

We finished with this and I'm sure we will continue these topics more and I will keep you updated. But our final notes this class period were as follows. . .
If we are a reflection of God himself (imago dei) with a capacity for creativity that imitates His then
- to exercise creativity is a spiritual act.
- the evaluation of creativity is a spiritual act.
- the appreciation of creativity is a spiritual act.
because each enhances or demeans the spiritual act.

Sadly, class had ended at this point. I'm sure we will discuss more next week.