Today, I want to look at a few things that Jonathan Edwards teaches, and also return to two of my previous discussions. I will have to divert from the specific subject of beauty for a little bit, but because beauty and ethics and the Christian life are so bound up together, you cannot talk about one without acknowledging the other.
The first thing I want to discuss is the concept of beauty as relational; that beauty does not exist separately from other things but is inextricably bound up in the living of this life. I’ve spoken before about Christ telling the Pharisees that, should the disciples keep silent, the stones would cry out (Luke 19:40). And I think it is very telling that Creation did not stop until Man and Woman were created. See, I think sometimes we take it for granted that “God created the Heavens and the Earth in six days, and on the seventh He rested,” as if the concept of a seven-day week were already established and God managed to fit everything in on schedule, as it were. But this is not the case; He created until Creation was complete, and it was not complete until Man and Woman were created. Because Jesus’ statement in Luke does not preclude our existence; if mankind did not exist, then Creation would praise God in and of themselves. But Creation was made to praise God, and we are the voices and the spirits and souls through which Creation can praise God. If we fail that, if we refuse as a species to praise God, then the rest of Creation will cry out.
So, as Edwards even discusses, relationship existed from the beginning, between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and I’ll get into a little more detail when I bring up my second point. But my first point is this: while beauty exists outside of our perception, as I argued against Kant, it does not give praise to God until we praise Him for it. A sparrow does not fall without God’s noticing, Jesus tells us that: but He didn’t stop Creation with the sparrow – and I think that’s telling. Again, sometimes we take it for granted because we’re here, we exist, that if we didn’t it wouldn’t matter. If that were the case, God would not have spared Noah, he would not have made a covenant with Abraham, or with Moses, or with David, or with mankind through His Son Christ Jesus. If we were that disposable, He would have disposed of us. The question I feel we must ask, is why. My pastor in church the other week said, if you’re here [on earth] it’s because God has a purpose for you. And that is very good on a personal level; but what about a global level? If mankind is here, it is for a reason; and if we believe Jonathan Edwards, and beauty is relational, then what is beauty apart from us?
But before we get too big a head on our shoulders, let us realize God is complete within Himself; He is perfect, after all. We seem, sometimes, to have a mixed up view of “perfection” because in everyday language we nuance perfect to mean “as perfect as can be done by humans.” But when we say God is perfect, we need to realize He is Perfect. So if God can exist on His own, how much of a say do we have in beauty? And this, I believe, is critical.
I spoke in my first blog about the idea that “If God created it, it is beautiful.” But I want to focus that a little differently to say “if it points to God, it is beautiful.” Because another concept Edwards discusses is the idea that Creation is the outpouring of God. It was not created ex nihilo in the way we think about it, but it was an extension, of sorts, of God. He existed, and it came from Him.
(Now one point I’m wrestling with, and I’m not sure how far Edwards takes this, is if he is saying the Creation is God, who is perfect, how has sin damaged the Creation. I’m not sure how that fits in just yet, but I continue to pursue.)
But we must realize that, according to the Gospel of John, everything that was made was made for Christ. Nothing was made apart from Him. There is not anything in existence that He did not oversee. So everything needs to point back to Him.
Here is where I want to digress for an instant, and discuss sin, among other things. Some people ask “If God created everything, where did sin come from?” And it may seem a very logical question. But the fact is this: sin is acting opposite to what God wants. There has to be a choice, or we would be automatons, with no real relationship with God. One of Edwards’ concepts is that beauty is consent of one being to another. The beauty of God is the consent of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to one another. Beauty in our lives is us saying “yes” to God. Beauty in creation is Creation pointing to God and saying “yes.” Recalling my pastor; continued life on this earth is God saying “yes” to us as individuals, and as humankind. When we say “no,” that is sin. Since God is perfect, He will not say “no” to Himself. Since we are imperfect, it is very easy to say “no” to God.
I want to address one issue separate from beauty for a moment. There is no middle ground, here; we either say “yes” or we say “no.” Even if we do not decide, we are deciding not to decide, and that is a “no” decision. When Paul likens this life to a race in Hebrews 12:1, we must consider what a race is. Yes, we race toward the finish and prize of oneness with Christ Jesus. But the race is not the road on which we run. The race is the movement of people. If you are in a marathon, and stop in the middle of the road, the race continues whether you are moving or not. So by your stasis, the race, don’t you see, moves you backward. So it is in our relationship with God: when we aren’t moving forward toward the finish, we are moving backward. So either you are saying “yes” to God, and living in His beauty; or you are saying “no” and living in the deformity.
You are always saying yes to somebody; to say “yes” to God is to say “yes” to beauty, because true beauty lies within God. But to say “no” to God is to say “yes” to deformity and corruption.
God is always reaching out; in the relation of beauty, His half is always extended; in His creation, in the way of life, in your life. But until there is mutual consent, beauty is incomplete. If we call beautiful that which is not from God and that which does not point to God, it is not beauty. It is a superficiality, a cloak of the Evil One to lure those away from God whom he can. If it does not come from God, if it does not point back to Him, it is not true beauty, no matter how pleasing to the eye.
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