Encyclopedia of Dogmatic Theology

The Wonderful Attributes of God

The Wonderful Attributes of God (5)

In previous issues we spoke about God the Creator, God the Mighty, God the Holy, and God the Preserver. Today we speak about Him in His attribute as
“Fairer than the sons of men” (Ps 45:2).
Beautiful and a lover of beauty.

He is God, perfect in everything, and beauty is a branch of His perfection. He is beautiful in His perfection, and perfect in His beauty…
It was said of Him in the Psalms that He is “fairer than the sons of men” (Ps 45:2). And it was said that He dwells in “unapproachable light” (1 Tim 6:16), and that He is “the true Light” (John 1:9). David desired the beauty of the Lord, saying: “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Ps 27:4). The beauty of the Lord was dazzling on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9). And when He appeared to Saint John the Apostle, “His face was like the sun shining in its strength” (Rev 1:16).

How beautiful is what was said about our Lord Jesus Christ in the Song of Songs: “His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars… His mouth is most sweet, yes, he is altogether lovely” (Song 5:15–16). “His head is like the finest gold… His eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk” (Song 5:11–12). And the Church said of Him: “My beloved is white and ruddy” (Song 5:10): white in the purity of His heart, and ruddy with the precious blood that He shed for our sake.

Because God is beautiful and loves beauty, His love of beauty appeared in the creation which He created.
We begin by mentioning the beauty of the angels. Believe me, even Satan was said of him before his fall that he was “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” (Ezek 28:12). The heaven was beautiful, and the earth also. “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Gen 1:31). Look at the moon in the sky, how beautiful it is when it is full. Therefore, when they describe a beautiful person, they say he is like the moon. And the sun is far more beautiful than the moon; rather, the moon derives its light and beauty from it. Likewise the beauty of the stars, “for one star differs from another star in glory” (1 Cor 15:41).

And God created the earth very beautiful, with all that is in it of seas, lakes, and rivers; trees, fruits, and flowers; mountains, valleys, and plains; wondrous scenes that indicate the creativity of the Creator and His love of beauty. Even the Prince of Poets, Ahmed Shawqi, sang of this nature in a poem whose opening is:

This nature—pause with us, O traveler,
that I may show you the wondrous work of the Creator.

Truly, how beautiful is the sight of nature at sunset and at sunrise. How beautiful is the sight of the rainbow with its many colors. How beautiful are the colors of flowers, roses, and fragrant herbs—harmonious, beautiful in the diversity of their kinds and in the beauty of their fragrance. Artificial flowers, no matter how skillfully made, can never rival them; they remain lifeless, without fragrance, without softness.

From God’s love of beauty: when He created man, He placed him in a garden, with all that the word “garden” carries of beauty, and what this beauty adds of gentleness and a feeling of happiness. Everything in it was beautiful: flowers and birds, trees and fruits, and the charming nature.

Man himself was created beautiful.
It is enough what was said of him in Scripture, that God created him in His image, according to His likeness (Gen 1:26–27). Eve was very beautiful—the most beautiful woman in existence; none after her deserved this description except Saint Mary the Virgin. Adam also was beautiful. Nothing disfigured human beauty except sin; but in the beginning it was not so. God created him beautiful.

Many prophets and saints were described in Scripture as beautiful.
Joseph the Righteous was beautiful: “Joseph was handsome in form and appearance” (Gen 39:6). Moses the prophet was “exceedingly fair” (Acts 7:20; Heb 11:23). Perhaps this is what caused Pharaoh’s daughter to take him with her into her palace and adopt him, so that he was called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (Heb 11:24). David the prophet also was beautiful: “ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking” (1 Sam 16:12, 18). Sarah, the wife of our father Abraham, was beautiful even in her nineties, to the extent that Abimelech king of Gerar took her into his house to be his wife (Gen 20:2). And the daughters of Job the righteous, who were born to him after the trial, Scripture says of them: “In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job” (Job 42:15).

All these were characterized by beauty of body and beauty of spirit as well.
We may also mention Esther, who was the most beautiful woman of her time, so that she was chosen as wife for King Ahasuerus: “The young woman was lovely and beautiful” (Esth 2:7, 9). “Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her” (Esth 2:15). She is the saint who fasted, called all the people to fasting, saved her people, and God was with her (Esth 4:16).

The greatest female example in beauty of form and beauty of spirit is Saint Mary the Virgin.
When you look at the icon of the Virgin, you find her beautiful—not like ordinary beauty, but the beauty of the spirit has bestowed upon her image a kind of spiritual beauty. In her image appears what is in her heart of meekness, simplicity, chastity, calmness, peace, and the rest of the beautiful virtues.

Beauty is a gift from God, increasing in splendor “with the beauty of virtue in the spirit.”
Facial features reveal the state of the spirit, whether good or evil, and reveal the feelings of the heart—especially the eyes, for they are a mirror of all the inner emotions of a person. Love or lust appears in the eyes; anger, hatred, or desire for revenge also appear in the eyes. Hardness or kindness of heart is revealed by the eyes, as well as fear or courage.

Likewise holiness, purity, and chastity all appear in facial features and in the gaze of the eyes. Therefore how beautiful is what Saint Joseph said to Saint Abba Anthony the Great: “It is enough for me just to look at your face, my father.” When God created man, He created him beautiful in body and spirit.

By sin, man lost this beauty. And the Lord Jesus Christ came to present to us the divine image that man lost, for He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Heb 1:3). He presented to us perfection in beauty, in form and in spirit.

God, the lover of beauty, also granted beauty to many creatures: birds, for example, in the diversity of their kinds and shapes, the beauty of their voices and the variety of their tones, playing for the universe a wondrous, beautiful, and joyful music; butterflies in the beauty of their colors and the diversity of these colors, indicating the creativity of the Creator in what He bestowed upon them of beauty in dozens or hundreds of forms that no artist can portray; likewise the multicolored fish with their hundreds of dazzling forms and colors, giving us an idea of the Creator who loves beauty.

And the flowers, roses, and fragrant herbs—sufficient for their beauty is what the Lord of glory said about them: “Consider the lilies of the field… even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matt 6:28–29).

God did not grant beauty to females only, but to males also.
As some say: the lion is more beautiful in form than the lioness; the rooster more beautiful than the hen; the stallion more beautiful than the mare. He even granted beauty to beings that are neither male nor female, such as scenes of nature.

If the body on earth has beauty, what shall we say about the bodies in the resurrection—those which the Apostle Paul described as rising in glory and in power, spiritual bodies and heavenly bodies (1 Cor 15:43–49)? With what beautiful form will God, the lover of beauty, raise them? How wondrous is what the Apostle Paul said about this, when he said of the Lord Christ: “who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil 3:21). Truly, how beautiful and how splendid is “the form of His glorious body.”

God, the lover of beauty, also cared that beauty be in His house. He set an example of this beauty in the Tabernacle of Meeting before Moses the prophet. Moses made everything “as the Lord had commanded Moses,” and this phrase was repeated many times in the Book of Exodus (Exod 40). Moreover, the Lord called a great artist, Bezalel, and filled him “with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship” (Exod 31:2–5).

The Lord did not stop at that, but also chose the materials, so that Bezalel and Oholiab, “every gifted artisan,” would make the Tabernacle “of fine woven linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet thread, with artistic designs of cherubim” (Exod 36:8). He chose acacia wood that does not decay, and precious stones, gold and silver. The utensils of the altar were of pure gold; the lampstand was made of pure gold; likewise the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant was of pure gold, with two cherubim spreading their wings upward, overshadowing the mercy seat (Exod 37).

As with the beauty of the Tabernacle, God made beauty also in the garments of Aaron the high priest.
“From the blue, purple, and scarlet thread they made garments of ministry for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses… And they made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine woven linen” (Exod 39). Wonderful are the descriptions of Aaron’s garments in their beauty—he and his sons—as the Lord commanded, garments “for glory and for beauty” (Exod 28:40). On the hem of Aaron’s garment were bells of gold and pomegranates; a golden bell and a pomegranate upon the hem of the robe (Exod 28:33–34). On his turban was a plate of pure gold, engraved like the engraving of a signet: “Holiness to the Lord.”

Thus the Lord said to Moses: “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest” (Exod 28:2–3). God, the lover of beauty, thus clothed Aaron with beautiful garments and made them Himself.

The same applies to the beauty of the Tabernacle regarding the Temple as well—indeed, even more so.
“Solomon made all the articles in the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, the table of gold… the lampstands of pure gold… the wicks and the trays of gold… and the censers of pure gold” (1 Kings 7:48–50). How many beautiful carvings were in the Temple, in the pillars, their capitals, and their bases. For all this, Hiram was chosen, who was “filled with wisdom and understanding and knowledge” (1 Kings 7:13–14).

Some may think that everything should be simple, whether in building or in clothing. But God, the lover of beauty, wanted His house to be of the utmost beauty and splendor.
This beauty with which Solomon characterized his work and construction made the Queen of Sheba astonished, “there was no more spirit in her” (1 Kings 10:5). The house of the Lord was a masterpiece of beauty, in its building, its carvings, and its prayers as well.

Not only the Temple, but also the Tabernacle, which was described as the dome, and of which we say in the doxology: “Our souls were adorned, O Moses the prophet, with the honor of the dome which you adorned.” All this made the believers praise the Lord, saying: “How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts” (Ps 84:1)—lovely in the beauty of construction and the beauty of worship.

Thus God made the Church beautiful in everything: beautiful with its icons, beautiful with its lights, candles, and incense; beautiful with its twelve pillars representing the twelve apostles, and the capitals of the pillars representing the crowns of the apostles; beautiful in its rites and all that these rites carry of meanings and symbols; beautiful in its melodies, music, doxologies, and hymns.

From God’s love of beauty, He granted us music and singing in our worship, as the Apostle Paul said: “… speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16). How beautiful it is to pray to the Lord and sing to Him. Even the phrase “Sing to the Lord a new song” is translated by some as “Sing to the Lord a new hymn.”

David the prophet prayed his psalms accompanied by a large choir of musicians, praying with the harp, the flute, the lyre, and the ten-stringed instrument, with beautiful music and sweet rhythms. Until now we pray the Divine Liturgy with chanted prayers, and read the Gospel with the same melodic reading. Thus are all the praises.

In the music of worship there is an atmosphere of beauty and influence. Therefore I urge the priest fathers in the diaspora that their translations of the Liturgy prayers be accompanied by melody, for prayers that are recited together without melody often lose their spirituality and effect.

Moreover, many books of Scripture—especially the poetic books—had their music for poetic compositions, such as Job, the Psalms, and the Song of Songs, which can be translated as “The Song of Songs,” and some of Solomon’s books, and many hymns within various books, which were sung.

Alongside the beauty of music in the Church, God granted us the beauty of art: architectural art in the Church with all its carvings and symbols; the art of the icon and what it inspires of spirituality; in addition, of course, to the art of music. In the Tabernacle of Meeting, God willed that there be the art of weaving, and the art of crafting gold, silver, bronze, and wood—because in all these, art displays a beauty that God loves, and this beauty has a spiritual effect.

God, who loves beauty, is the One who granted some the gift of various kinds of art, as He said of Bezalel: “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship” (Exod 31:3).

Among the beauty that God loves in the Church is also the beauty of order. Everything in the Church is arranged in a divine manner, as the Lord said: “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor 14:40). In the miracle of the five loaves and the two fish, He first said: “Make them sit down in groups, in hundreds and in fifties” (Mark 6:40). The Church resembles heaven in its beauty and in its ranks; we also say of it: “As in heaven, so on earth.” Everything is in order, because order is beautiful and God loves it. And the divine inspiration says: “Withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly” (2 Thess 3:6).

Consider also the beauty of style, as in the Gospel of John and his epistles—successive, orderly sentences with a wondrous rhythm: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4–5). Or as in his first epistle: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us” (1 John 2:19).

Even in dealings and communication between people, the beauty of style in speech sows love and influence. A beautiful, well-chosen word has its effect on the soul. Beautiful conduct results in friendship and affection. Even a sweet smile has its own beauty and influence.

The most important beauty that God seeks from man is the beauty of the spirit—the spirit which the Song of Songs said is “perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the merchant’s fragrant powders” (Song 3:6); the spirit perfumed with purity and holiness. As the Apostle Peter said: “the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (1 Pet 3:4).

God, who is beautiful and loves beauty, has stored up for us treasures of beauty in eternity, expressed by the Apostle when he said: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor 2:9): the beauty of fellowship with God; the beauty of the heavenly Jerusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev 21:2); the beauty of the angels; the beauty of praises; the beauty of life in the Spirit and the fellowship of the saints; the beauty of a life without sin; the beauty of the knowledge of God (John 17:3); and seeing Him face to face (1 Cor 13:12); beauty like the face of Moses which shone so that they put a veil over it (Exod 34:29–30).