Monday, June 23, 2008

The 3 Sisters

It is only in Beauty that Truth is good, and that Goodness is true:

"We no longer dare to believe in beauty and we make of it a mere appearance in order the more easily to dispose of it. Our situation today shows that beauty demands for itself at least as much courage and decision as do truth and goodness, and she will not allow herself to be separated and banned from her two sisters without taking them along with herself in an act of mysterious vengeance. We can be sure that whoever sneers at her name as if she were the ornament of a bourgeois past — whether he admits it or not — can no longer pray and soon will no longer be able to love."

-Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics. vol. 1. p 18.

2 comments:

cris said...

someone I was listening to lately was arguing that goodness is the top of these three and if beauty did not submit to goodness then it was only idolatry and worse. I wish I could remember where I was that I was part of this conversation. I told them goodness was worthless to me if it was not also beautiful.

These discussions feel similar to me as discussions on eastern view of the Trinity vs western vies.

elnellis said...

right. one has always been emphasized over the others at different points in history. balthasar beleived that this era needs the primacy of beauty in order for the other's to even be considered. like you said, who cares if it is good or true if it is ugly! that is the context for much of my experience with the evangelical church!
looking fwd to camping with you guys this weekend. peace.