This is the second of a series of posts from a paper titled God's Beauty. Rev. Blake Purcell wrote this in 2006 while serving as Rector of the Biblical Theological Seminary in St. Petersburg, Russia. Follow along as Reverend Purcell explores God's beauty in the Book of Kells, in the Church, in the Word, and in doctrine.
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God’s beauty is mysterious.
First of all, in Psalm 68:13 we read,
This is a literal translation. David writes that when the people of Israel were like sheep, they were like ornate doves. What in the world does this mean? I am not sure… and that is my point.
Prov. 25:2 reads, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the glory of kings to search a matter out.” God purposefully conceals some of his beauty from us in order to make us look for it. Mystery is God’s way of developing us, and even enjoying playing with us, as we enjoy playing games with our little children. Obviously there is profound beauty in this verse, but this beauty is all the more attractive because it is concealing something from us, namely its logic and connection with our experience. We are not used to sheep being compared to silvery doves or being confused with such beauty. The gold and silver attract, the sheep force us to look again. Or maybe visa versa.
Russian icons convey mystery through layered golds in their backgrounds and bodies floating on those pearl-like backdrops. The Kells convey mystery through unidentifiable beasts and birds intertwined in almost unimaginable complexity. But Icons are often so flat and one dimensional they usually satisfy our minds in a few glances. The Kells’ depth inspires and requires repeated careful study and even then you are not completely sure what you are looking at. The Kells is more like Ps. 68:13 than an icons are.
“If you lie down among the sheepfolds, the wings of a dove are covered in silver, with its feathers in glittering gold.”
This is a literal translation. David writes that when the people of Israel were like sheep, they were like ornate doves. What in the world does this mean? I am not sure… and that is my point.
Prov. 25:2 reads, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the glory of kings to search a matter out.” God purposefully conceals some of his beauty from us in order to make us look for it. Mystery is God’s way of developing us, and even enjoying playing with us, as we enjoy playing games with our little children. Obviously there is profound beauty in this verse, but this beauty is all the more attractive because it is concealing something from us, namely its logic and connection with our experience. We are not used to sheep being compared to silvery doves or being confused with such beauty. The gold and silver attract, the sheep force us to look again. Or maybe visa versa.
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| Opening of St. Luke's gospel, Book of Kells. |
Russian icons convey mystery through layered golds in their backgrounds and bodies floating on those pearl-like backdrops. The Kells convey mystery through unidentifiable beasts and birds intertwined in almost unimaginable complexity. But Icons are often so flat and one dimensional they usually satisfy our minds in a few glances. The Kells’ depth inspires and requires repeated careful study and even then you are not completely sure what you are looking at. The Kells is more like Ps. 68:13 than an icons are.
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