A Grace of Sense - theological aesthetics

St Anne. Photo Anu Hätinen  The universe does not have to make sense to us. It is not ultimately necessary that we can understand the logic of being. Moreover, being does not ultimately need to have a logic whatsoever. Yet that is what we experience: we encounter the world as something that has a logic, as a series of incidents that make sense, almost without exception. When that is not the case, we shout: "This does not make sense!" And we feel distressed. We stubbornly expect that being makes sense. Obviously, this conviction is right. Our life does not work without a meaning. My words here, these letters on the screen, are designed to convey a meaning. They are written with the intention to be intelligible, not arbitrarily (like this: sodkhg wkreesi lasit). If the reader should find my point flawed, the criterion for that would be the reason, rationality that we both appeal to.  No one truly believes in the mere chance. On the contrary, it is amazing that the origin of the

"You are not to bear false witness against your neighbor." What is this? Answer: We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light. (Luther: The Small Catechism) To speak well of our neighbors, that is the point of the seventh commandment (or the eighth, according to the Orthodox or Reformed reading). There are several aspects of interest here. To begin with, a good reputation is something invaluable for a person. To lose face has always been a disaster, but never has it been such a threat as in the internet era. To ruin someone's reputation has never been as simple to do as it is today. Once suspicion is leveled (about, say, sexual harassment or economic dishonesty) no explanations will suffice to clear one's honor. Even when the allegation is proved to be entirely

"Contemplation is the free, more penetrating gaze of a mind, suspended with wonder concerning manifestations of wisdom" ( contemplatio est libera mentis perspicacia in sapientiae spectacula cum admiratione suspensa ) - Richard of St. Victor, Benjamin major, chapter 4.  At the crossroads of art and religion there is contemplation. Basically the verb contemplor means "to view attentively, to survey, to consider." Contemplation is the Latin equivalent of the Greek theoria , that, according to Plato, means the vision of the essential beauty. The essence of beauty surpasses all beautiful objects and actions, and is the source of them all. ( Banquet 211b-e ). Contemplation is not scrutinizing rationality, but rather immediate understanding.  In terms of art and aesthetics, contemplation may be described as a disinterested enjoyment of an artwork. That means that one does not appreciate a work of art because of its price or fame, but simply because it overwhelms oneself an

  The Greek word καλός may denote beautiful, good, or useful. That is the case with many other languages, too: the word for beauty has several connotations, other than aesthetic.  In the Greek philosophy, there were also several criteria that make beauty beautiful. The most prominent were order (τάξις ), symmetry, and harmony. In a perfect body, harmony of the human limbs were in accordance with the harmony of the universe, of which the musical harmony was a sounding image.  According to Plato, all visible beauty is originated in the idea of beauty. Diotima's celebrated speech in The Banquet begins with beautiful objects, then discusses beautiful soul and beautiful action, and ultimately presents the idea of beauty behind all this.  Beauty is inseparably connected with the moral goodness and the useful. The vehement criticism of art in Plato's The Republic is principally due to the enormous power of art to move the human soul. Compared to Plato, Aristotle's view on kalos ap

  Que tu es belle, mon amie, que tu es belle! Tes yeux sont des colombes, derrière ton voile. Tes cheveux sont comme un troupeau de chèvres, suspendues aux flancs de la montagne de Galaad. Tes dents sont comme un troupeau de brebis tondues, qui remontent de l'abreuvoir; Toutes portent des jumeaux, aucune d'elles n'est stérile. Tes lèvres sont comme un fil cramoisi, et ta bouche est charmante; Ta joue est comme une moitié de grenade, derrière ton voile. Ton cou est comme la tour de David, bâtie pour être un arsenal; Mille boucliers y sont suspendus, tous les boucliers des héros. Tes deux seins sont comme deux faons, comme les jumeaux d'une gazelle, qui paissent au milieu des lis.(Cant.4:1-5)  La langage érotique du Cantique des cantiques a toujours bouleversé la pensée théologique - des hommes, on peut supposer. Un des grands commentateurs chrétiens, Grégoire le Grand (6eme siècle), pour sa part, explique l'usage biblique des membres feminins avec une mise en garde:

  De Musica is an early work of Augustine, consisting of six books - the last of them written after his baptism in 391. It is a treatise of numbers, movement, rhythm and measure more than that of music (in the sense we understand the word). Initially Augustine aimed to dedicate a book to all the liberal sciences. However, the only accomplished works came to be De Musica and De Dialectica. The vision behind these books was a prominently Neo-Platonist one: through the study of these sciences that belong to the physical world, one could arrive at the incorporeal reality of God ( per corporalia cupiens ad incorporalia quibusdam quasi passibus certis vel pervenire vel ducere ). De Musica was a highly influential textbook throughout the Middle Ages. All subsequent authors on musical theory – Cassiodore, Boethius as well as Isidor – relied upon Augustine in a way or another. At the outset Augustine defines music in as scientia bene modulandi . This idea is difficult to translate conci