June 10, 2010 Why Does Beauty Exist?

Stephen's mention of Solomon's temple in his sermon (we're still in that!), and his quote from Isaiah, are nicely juxtaposed in our One Year Bible reading today.  "But Solomon built Him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: ‘ Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things?' " Acts 7:47-50 NKJV (Isaiah 66:1,2).  

As I contemplate the beauty of the temple and furnishings that Solomon designed, I am quite certain that he created them as an act of worship.  I remembered that Solomon himself mentioned that God doesn't live in a physical building, so I decided to look it up (we're coming up to it in just a few days):  "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!" I Kings 8:27  There is so much more to be said about the dwelling-place of God, and I'm sure that topic will unfold as we continue reading throughout the year.

We read in previous chapters that Solomon was quite a naturalist (botanist/biologist).  He appreciated how God expressed Himself through the intricacies of nature, and responded to that by echoing the beauty and excellence in his own creations.  He wanted the temple surroundings to remind people that God was the creator of the world, and that He should be called upon and worshipped.  Solomon knew the language of beauty.

 As Stephen also pointed out, the creation itself is not to be worshipped--  when the people made idols and worshipped them, the end result was captivity.  There is an obvious difference in decorating things beautifully with images from nature and making a golden calf and worshipping it.  It's what's behind the image-making-- the purpose and spirit of it-- that makes artistic expression what it is.  I may be stepping into a spiritual hornet's nest here, but the Muslim aesthetic is all about trying to avoid such idolatry (geometric adornment only; hide women's faces and bodies), but it does nothing to change the idolatrous heart of humankind.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Western culture of idolizing beauty in general, and beautiful people particularly.  This is where all of our hearts go when we are not letting the Spirit of Truth give our sinful hearts an overhaul.

God is beautiful, but beauty is not god!  Beauty is an intrinsic quality of God-- you can't have God without getting extravagant beauty in the bargain!  It springs forth from Him.  Just look around!  And God created human beings with an appreciation of, and an ability to create, astounding beauty.  I am very thankful for that!  I am a great fan of God's beauty, His artistic ability, and His awe-inspiring creations.

I believe that beauty on this earth exists to testify of God's Beauty, of Him.  Getting religious about our attitudes about beauty just doesn't help anything-- it only spoils what God has given.  But if we can see beauty as a interface of communion-- back and forth, giving and receiving-- we will enter into a greater realm of Heavenly worship and glory than we have ever been in before.