"Beauty"--and the Christian World View

[Alana in Canada]

The kids and I will be discussing Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" this week--and it got me thinking that "Beauty" is a Greek ideal--not a Christian one.

Jesus is described as humble--never beautiful or even handsome. In fact, it is very much the point that he was an "ordinary" man.

God does love Beauty-- but if you look closely at His creation, the beauty in it is more of the engineering sort. For example, the kids ask me, "Why are there mosquitos and wasps?" and so on. The insect world is full of "pests" and are not beautiful. Intriguing and fascinating, yes, but not beautiful in the way that we would, at first glance, understand it.

So, how far are our notions of Beauty secular--from the Greeks--and not Christian based at all?

I'm just mulling this over. More philosophically than anything else, but I'm wondering what others may think so I may sort out my thoughts a bit better.

[Virginia Dawn]

Well, Jacob loved Rachel for her beauty. Leah was considered the ugly sister. Other Old Testament women were called beautiful: Sarah, Rebecca, Bathsheba.

That beauty can not be called Christian, but it could be called Biblical. :-)

I think every people group has had standards of physical beauty for women, and men.

[Jenn in Mo]

The way I see it, God was around before the Greeks. I anything beautiful would have to be a reflection of God's beauty. Some of those beautiful things are categorized as pleasing to the eye, but the Bible also clearly tells us that a woman's true beauty comes from within and is therefore not visible externally.

Our eyes are instinctively drawn to beauty while we shy away from ugly. In the same way, our tastebuds are drawn to sweet and recoil at bitter. This isn't because we learned so much from the Greeks, though they did teach us an awful lot. No, this is because we are made in God's image and are drawn to the beauty of our Maker.

[Chris in VA]

Isn't there a wonderful verse about God that goes something like,
He gives beauty for ashes?

If he's the giver of beauty, it must be a reflection of his character. However, I'd agree that our ideas of what exactly is beautiful would be dependent on a number of factors. I think God is most jazzed about inner beauty and those things we cannot see.

[Carol in Cal.]

There is no reason for it except to be enjoyed. I think that God is creative and enjoys creating beauty as well as function, both of which He does superbly. There is no beauty of humanity that rivals mountain ranges, or Bora Bora, or a river system for beauty. It refreshes and feeds us, both.

We value God more fully when we value His creation in all its aspects, including its great beauty.

The most sterile societies are Godless ones that also squelch nature--like Soviet Russian cities, for instance.

And some Christian writers elucidate this contrast very clearly. The best example that I can think of of this is C. S. Lewis' book, "That Hideous Strength."

I would postulate that the difference between the Greek ideal and the Biblical one is that the Greek one is man-centered, and not well-rounded. It focusses on physical and mental beauty, but pretty much excludes spiritual beauty and the beauty of nature. By contrast, the Biblical ideal is the beauty of God, as evidenced by his creations--human and otherwise--including the values and grace that are evident in His Word.

[Alana in Canada]

So,, let's switch to Biblical rather than "Christian" in our terminology: much more inclusive and appropriate, I think.

Jacob was a man, who, though favoured by God was also flawed. I'm not sure his valuing his wife for her "beauty" can necessarily be taken as good evidence that beauty--especially physical beauty of the womanly sort--establishes it as a Biblical ideal. And I'm not saying God doesn't value it either, though.

I think the point that God's "ideal" of beauty may be more inclusive than that of the Greeks is a good point. The fact that Plato valued Socrates "in spite of his ugliness" sugests that the Greeks may have glorified Beauty for its own sake (and it wasn't an attitude Plato shared).

What is beauty?
It is something we can see and appreciate.
Is it something "we" can create? You see, Botticelli seems to be saying that Beauty is something we can appreciate and see apart from God. His subject was the Birth of a goddess--renouned for her beauty and the "havoc" it wreaked upon man in falling in love with her. In a way, hes saying, "Look at Beauty--see how dangerous it is." and he's also saying, perhaps, "it is dangerous precisely because it is divorced from God."

Maybe.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm going to pick up my copy of "That Hideous Strength" and read it with fresh eyes. Thanks for the reference.

[Nancy in SoCal]

My first reaction was Ecclesiastes 1:9, where Soloman states, "That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun."

So it is not possible that beauty can be a Greek idea, it was originally God's.

And Who is this standard of beauty? God Himself:

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: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 meditate in His temple. Psalm 27:4

We are made in the image of God, and therefore there should be some innate ability to perceive beauty, but I would say beauty apart from God, Who is beauty defined, is a corrupted form of beauty.

That is probably why God reminds us over and over in Proverbs not to be deceived and led astray by the beauty of others.

Phillipians 4:8 reminds us, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." I do not know what the original Greek is for 'lovely' in this verse, but it would probably be worth looking into.

Good question! I enjoy having to think these things through. I apologize for the chaotic presentation of these thoughts. DS5 i sitting next to me, pummeling me with questions! :-)

[Alana in Canada]

Thanks, Nancy! I well understand being pestered by a five year old! Dad's taken the kids out for the afternoon and I'm washing floors in between posts. :tongue_smilie:

[Kathleen in VA]

I read in Reader's Digest (that wonderful authority on just about everything;)) that physical beauty is related to proportion. When showed many different photographs of people and asked to state which were "beautiful," the faces that were the most proportionate were overwhelmingly designated as beautiful.

This reminds me of a video I saw that discussed the "Golden Ratio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio)" - especially the golden rectangle - which the Greeks used in their architecture because they considered it beautiful. In that video it is pointed out that Leonardo DaVinci painted The Mona Lisa using the golden ratio to design her facial proportions.

The Golden Ratio is used to construct the Ark of the Covenant so I suppose it is biblical in a way. This website (http://creationwiki.org/Golden_ratio) explains that and also shows the ratio as seen in the human body.

Just thought I'd throw this in there for whatever it is worth.

[Wendi]

I'm not sure I understand or agree with your comment that the beauty in creation is of the "engineering" sort. What about the amazing variety and beauty of tropical fish? Or birds? Or flowers? Surely their beauty is not merely good engineering, but meant to be enjoyed as well? Or did I misunderstand your comment?

Wendi (hoping I didn't sound grumpy or snarky; I didn't mean to be!)

[WendyK]

This is kind of off topic...but kind of not.

Today I drove by a church (not sure which type) that had one of those message board things in the front listing all of their events. One event was "salon day". Members could go and get their hair and nails done at the church. I thought that was kinda funny. ;)

[cin]

This is something that I find fascinating. What is Beauty? The beauty fo the Lord? The beauty of the woman down the street? Are they sharing the same beauty? So, I looked up a few verses and crossed them in some different versions. (Crosswalk.com has a great tool for this!) And this is what I found (The variances are bolded).

Proverbs 31:30 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=24&chapter=31&verse=30&version=31&context=verse)
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised

Psalm 37:20 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=23&chapter=37&verse=20&version=31&context=verse)
But the wicked will perish: The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty (splendor, glory) of the fields, they will vanish—vanish like smoke.

Psalm 27:4 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=23&chapter=27&verse=4&version=31&context=verse)
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty (another translation states graciousness) of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

So, in looking at those, I wonder what the original translations are saying. Just like there are several words for love (eros, phileo, agape). So, now I'm looking into that. But from what I see just in the above verses, I think that there are different types of beauty. Physical beauty is fleeting. Like as we age, or if we abuse our bodies and they fall apart...The LORD'S beauty is also translated as graciousness, which indicates an inner beauty.

That's my 2 cents worth ;)

[CookieMonster]

First of all, I think you have to separate physical beauty from spiritual beauty. This makes the whole thing a lot clearer.

When speaking about people, here are some of the things I would say I've learned about beauty from the Bible (as a whole).


Physical Beauty does not guarantee Spiritual Beauty - ummm, self-explanatory, right? I would say, in general, the Greeks as you see them did equate Physical Beauty with some sort of Spiritual Greatness.

Spiritual Beauty does not guarantee Physical Beauty

But, Spiritual Beauty and Physical Beauty are not mutually exclusive. One can be both Spiritually Beautiful and Physically Beautiful.

Also, the absence of Physical Beauty is no guarantee of Spiritual Beauty.

Physical Beauty is perishable while Spiritual Beauty is imperishable.

Spiritual Beauty is determined by God. It's His measuring stick, plumbline, goal, you reach for.

Physical Beauty is largely determined by man's own inclinations. Although, your perception of what is physically beautiful will be influenced by knowing and seeing what God praises as worthy, there is still much in a person's level of physical beauty that is simply a matter of taste. I don't think God cares much about what individuals and societies find "easy to look at" as long as they remember that Physical Beauty is no determiner of Spiritual Beauty.

These were just some of my thoughts after looking over this thread. Does that help any?

[Alana in Canada]

Great thoughts. I'm so glad I put this out there.

I'll respond to this from Wendi:

I'm not sure I understand or agree with your comment that the beauty in creation is of the "engineering" sort. What about the amazing variety and beauty of tropical fish? Or birds? Or flowers? Surely their beauty is not merely good engineering, but meant to be enjoyed as well?

I'm not sure what I meant, frankly! And of cousre one can appreciate them for their beauty--but sometimes I wonder if that's the reason they are beautiful? I'm not sure God put them here or made them beautiful for the express reason that we would enjoy them, though I'm certain He enjoys it when we do. In other words, creation wasn't created FOR US....but I may be on shaky theological ground here, and I don't want to debate the purpose of creation, so I'll shut up now.

I think I was thinking about the fact that while there is a lot of beauty in God's creation, and He could have made everything "beautiful," He chose not too. I do not think a bombardier beetle or a praying mantis is beautiful. I just don't. But someone could still marvel at them--in the "engineering" sort of way.

And the golden ratio was used to built the Ark of the Covenant? I hadn't known that. How wonderful! I think that's fabulous.

I think the point is well made in that we need to separate spiritual beauty from physical beauty--and I agree that the Greeks likely didn't separate them too much. (Though, obviously, individuals, like Plato, did. I want to be careful about generalizations--especially through the haze of a couple of thousand years!)