• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

The Problem of Beauty

Fr. David Friel · March 8, 2015

AST WEEK, I wrote about beauty and its contemplation in the scene of the Transfiguration. Richard Clark wrote yesterday about Pope Francis, who recently remarked about the path to “recovering the allure of beauty” in the sacred liturgy. I would like to return again today to the topic of beauty, which I have considered often on these pages.

We are all familiar in some fashion with the “problem of evil.” This problem is frequently formulated as a question: why do bad things happen to good people? Why is evil permitted by a God Who is supposedly omnipotent & benevolent? These are questions that people of faith struggle to answer. They are questions that are addressed over and over again in the Sacred Scriptures, but never does the Bible offer a clear cut answer to the problem that is completely satisfying. Hence why it is called a “problem.”

Only recently did I encounter the concept of “the problem of beauty.” This problem could also be formulated as a question: if God does not exist, why is there so much joy & beauty in the world? This question is not a struggle for believers to answer; it is, rather, a problem for non-believers. What explanation can we give for the joys & beauties of life that have no demonstrable evolutionary benefit to man?

Is life really beautiful? Absolutely. The goodness of life can be confirmed by the natural human desire to prolong it. If life were not essentially good & beautiful, we would not experience death as such a tragedy nor speak of it as a “loss.” The beauty of life, moreover, is so incredibly gratuitous; we have no claim over any of the beautiful things we experience.

These thoughts were prompted by my reading of an excellent article by Joe Heschmeyer, a DC lawyer turned Kansas City seminarian. If the concept of beauty is an interest for you as it is for me, then I highly recommend that you give this piece a look.

In the article, Heschmeyer proposes that these two “problems” (evil & beauty) are not equal. He concludes that the problem of beauty is a much stronger argument in favor of God’s existence than the problem of evil is an argument against His existence. To understand why he makes this claim, check out his article.

Centuries ago, St. Augustine also saw the argument from beauty as a viable proof for God’s existence. In the inimitable Book X of his Confessions, he writes:

I asked the Earth, and it said, “I am not He!” I asked the sea and the deeps, and among living animals the things that creep, and they answered, “We are not your God! Seek higher than us!” . . . I asked the heavens, the sun, the moon, and the stars: “We are not the God Whom you seek,” they said. To all the things that stand around the doors of my flesh I said, “Tell me of my God!” . . . With a mighty voice, they cried out, “He made us!” My question was the gaze that I turned on them; their answer was their beauty. (The Confessions of St. Augustine, Book X, Chapter VI)

Beauty is, indeed, evidence of a loving, generous, and joyful God.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

A hymn verse need not be a complete sentence, but it must have completed sense as a recognisable part of the complete sentence, and at each major pause there would be at least a “sense-pause.” Saint Ambrose and the early writers and centonists always kept to this rule. This indicates one of the differences between a poem and a hymn, and by this standard most of the modern hymns and the revisions of old hymns in the Breviary stand condemned.

— Fr. Joseph Connelly

Recent Posts

  • Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
  • PDF Download • Belgian Book of Gregorian Accompaniments (Official Edition)
  • Don’t You Agree About These?
  • Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
  • Crucial Tip For Choir Directors

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.