13
What does it mean that God chose to speak in creatively aesthetic ways? Is
beauty just a superfluous quality that God added to the Scripture so as to entice us to read
them more? Or, is beauty somehow a reflection of the nature of God? I think that the
beauty of the form of Scripture indicates the beauty of God. God did not make us as
walking minds, brains on two legs. Evangelicals should not succumb to Gnosticism. We
were made in his image and this indicates to me that just as he delights in the beauty of
creation and the beauty of the Word, so to should we. Though we have done well in our
exegetical studies in noting the literary artistry of the Word, we should move forward and
utilize those insights in the construction of our theology.
IV.
Beauty in the Bible
The fourth way in which Evangelicals can reclaim beauty as a significant
theological component is to meditate on the beauty in the Bible. Not only is the form of
the Bible beautiful, so too is the content of the Bible. Here I have in mind the
descriptions of the created world, the artful inventions of man, and the glory and
character of God, the last of which we shall examine.
Although many passages mention the glory and character of God as beautiful, I
shall focus on the key verses in the Psalms. The Psalms, being God's official hymnbook
for the Old Covenant saints, are expressions of worship that God has inspired for his
people to say.
41
The Psalms show us the kinds of ways that we should come to God in
corporate worship, primarily, and also in individual prayer.
42
Thus, it is significant that
God has inspired expressions of praise concerning his beauty.
41
C. John Collins, A Study Guide for Psalms and Wisdom Literature (St. Louis, MO: by the
author, 1995, revised 1997), 16-18, 19.
42
I do not think that the Christian Church should only use Psalms in worship. We should write
and sing "a new song" to the Lord (Psalm 96:1). However, we would do well to use the Psalms as