Re:Silver amulet is the oldest evidence of Christianity nort...
by abrenuntio on Thursday December 19, 2024 @04:12AM
(#42459745)
Yes. You are right. It would be useless to create religious beauty to "impress" God. All that is good in creation exists in God in supereminent fashion.
But we don't do things to impress God. By supernatural grace we desire to become like God, from the inside out, in a way appropriate to our finite created nature. From grace comes our (sometimes clumsy...) imitation of Jesus and, why not, a desire for sacred art and beauty. By grace all of creation will be transformed.
Since you ask: what is elevated on the Catholic (and Orthodox) altars is the Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. It does not come from us, we did nothing to deserve it, and yet it was given to us so we can offer it to God. As the Lamb is elevated and we look up, we desire to add what little is in us. One expression of this desire is to have everything involved, from the building to the sacred vessels, express the sanctity of what is taking place. It may be clumsy, it may be mixed up with impure motives and false piety in some people. Who knows, it may really have been a bit much at times. But in itself, it is good and appropriate. It does not exclude other expressions of grace. In fact, to suppress it completely strikes me as joyless, misanthropic, deeply unbiblical and likewise potentially mixed up with impure motives and false piety.
What I think is wrong in your reply, is to confuse the art and golden vessels found in Catholic churches with privately owned wealth and a life dedicated to self-indulgence (like the rich man from Lazarus).
Finally, as a father I am always happy with the drawings of my kids, especially if I know that they really put effort in it. Would this same goodness also not exist in our Heavenly Father in a supereminent way?
But we don't do things to impress God. By supernatural grace we desire to become like God, from the inside out, in a way appropriate to our finite created nature. From grace comes our (sometimes clumsy...) imitation of Jesus and, why not, a desire for sacred art and beauty. By grace all of creation will be transformed.
Since you ask: what is elevated on the Catholic (and Orthodox) altars is the Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. It does not come from us, we did nothing to deserve it, and yet it was given to us so we can offer it to God. As the Lamb is elevated and we look up, we desire to add what little is in us. One expression of this desire is to have everything involved, from the building to the sacred vessels, express the sanctity of what is taking place. It may be clumsy, it may be mixed up with impure motives and false piety in some people. Who knows, it may really have been a bit much at times. But in itself, it is good and appropriate. It does not exclude other expressions of grace. In fact, to suppress it completely strikes me as joyless, misanthropic, deeply unbiblical and likewise potentially mixed up with impure motives and false piety.
What I think is wrong in your reply, is to confuse the art and golden vessels found in Catholic churches with privately owned wealth and a life dedicated to self-indulgence (like the rich man from Lazarus).
Finally, as a father I am always happy with the drawings of my kids, especially if I know that they really put effort in it. Would this same goodness also not exist in our Heavenly Father in a supereminent way?