Is Beauty an Attribute of God?
An Attribute and a Characteristic
Is beauty an attribute of God? Yes, and . . . . Beauty is clearly an attribute of God. That’s why the psalmist sometimes uses the term “beauty” to describe God. The beauty of God in his sanctuary in Psalm 96, or very famously in Psalm 27 when the psalmist expresses this desire to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to see him in his temple.
The Bible doesn’t hesitate, on occasion, to use the word "beauty" to describe God. So you can put beauty on your list with the goodness of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, and the righteousness of God. We don’t always have it on the list, but we ought to have it on the list because it is an attribute of God.
Beauty Is Your Destiny
Philip Graham Ryken
Adapted from chapel messages given at Wheaton College, Beauty Is Your Destiny provides readers with an introduction to the theology and practice of beauty.
I also think, and this is where the "and" part comes in, that there’s beauty to God’s other attributes. There’s a beauty to the holiness of God. There’s a beauty when God exercises his righteousness. There’s a beauty to the love of God and the mercy of God.
As we see God exercising those attributes in his relationships to human beings and what he’s doing in the world, there are times when we can say that’s holy and beautiful. We see both of those things. So you can think of beauty as an attribute in its own right, but also as a characteristic of the other attributes of God.
Phillip Graham Ryken is the author of Beauty Is Your Destiny: How the Promise of Splendor Changes Everything.
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