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1. I Believe in Beauty

   I believe in beauty.

   I don’t mean the vain sort of beauty that evolutionists say is part of the mating ritual of both humans and animals and designed to perpetuate the fittest members of the species.
   
   No, I’m talking about the kind of beauty that has no self- or species-serving purpose, the kind of beauty that motivates us to travel miles just to gaze upon the splendor of the Grand Canyon, or to stand in line for hours to view a Van Gogh exhibit, or to pass a few precious spare evening hours at the local symphony rather than on more practical things like catching up on the laundry or organizing tax receipts. 
   
   The sources and powers of beauty are infinite, as is the capacity of humans to adore it. Medieval clerics devoted their entire lifetimes creating painstakingly beautiful manuscripts. Enlightenment thinkers saw beauty in the order of the universe, Romantics in the chaos of the wilderness. The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins saw beauty in the “rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim.” Anne Frank viewed beauty as a source of happiness even amidst the worst horrors perpetuated by mankind. 
   
   What is most compelling to me about beauty is not that it exists, but that the selfish, flawed, and downright pathetic creatures that are the human race have the capacity to recognize, appreciate and pursue beauty.
   
   The power of beauty unites us as a human race: both an innocent child in the womb and a depraved Nazi leader respond to the beauty of classical music. Not a single civilization has existed that did not manifest in some form its pursuit of beauty through art.
   
   The ability to appreciate beauty is what separates us from the animals: though both my horse and I can enjoy the physical exhilaration of a gallop across the open field, only I can sense the magnificence of the Blue Ridge Mountains looming in front of us.
   
   For these reasons I believe that beauty is the greatest evidence for the existence of God. 
   
   Beauty is so utterly irrational, so flagrantly gratuitous, so obscenely uneconomic. Beauty defies logic, practicality, and all good sense. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, beauty is completely useless. In other words, beauty could come only from God. 
   
   The connection of beauty with God is by no means new. Philosophers from Plato to Elaine Scarry have argued that beauty leads us toward the truth and virtue which are the essence of God from any viewpoint. But in an age where utility seems to trump beauty at every turn, this connection of God to beauty begs particularly urgent attention.
   
   For I believe that the human capacity to know beauty is ultimately, not only the greatest evidence for the existence of God, but also the most powerful proof that we human beings are made in God’s image. And that is truly a beautiful thing. 

    

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   Dr. Karen Prior is Chairman of the English Department at Liberty University.