Consider the lilies: aesthetic experience, artistic vision, and the spirit-filled life

To what ends did God create a world that has such beauty? Was it only to provide visual illustrations for moral lessons? Even in Jesus\u27 discourse as recorded in Mt. 6 and Lk. 12, which admittedly is not focused on aesthetic concerns, we can see that this is not so. The implication here is that beauty has intrinsic worth; it exists because God values and desires beauty enough to bestow it as freely as he will give other needful gifts to his children. Moreover, as Leland Ryken points out, the Bible provides ample evidence that God himself not only creates but takes pleasure in contemplating the beauty of His creation. .. Beauty, however, in its severa1 aspects--as a property of things, as a perfection of God, as a gift of God, as a sacramental sign3 of God\u27s presence--is perennially neglected (though, fortunately, not completely ignored) in evangelical theology, both in technical doctrinal treatments as well as in discussions of practical aspects of the Christian life. It is my contention that beauty and aesthetic experience are theologically significant enough not to deserve such treatment and that experiencing beauty--natural and artistic--and making beauty have an important place in a life filled and guided by the Holy Spirit