Introductory Post
Philosophers and theologians have written about “the good, the true, and the beautiful” for several millennia. To philosophers, these are known as the Transcendentals, and apparently originated with Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle (remember SPA for their chronological order!). To theologians, these are considered to be the embodiment of God’s essence. For these qualities have no meaning apart from Something that “transcends” time and space.
Around 2015, Christianity Today launched an initiative known as “beautiful orthodoxy,” with the assumption that a lot of orthodoxy (truth) was ugly and a lot of beauty was unorthodox (false). The good, the true, and the beautiful could be married together in beautiful orthodoxy.
Unfortunately, much has changed about our world over the past three years. There is much more ugliness and many more lies than there were just a few short years ago. Covid has exposed those ugly lies but was not the cause of them. It simply pulled back a curtain on a dark and sinister world. Those who know me are aware of my attempts to give voice to truth during these dark times. Many appreciated that, but unfortunately many did not.
Yet if the essence of God’s nature is goodness, truth, and beauty, and if we are made in the image of God as Genesis 1 says, then I still believe that all people at core long for these three transcendentals. However, we know from Genesis 3 that the world is fallen. Sin has raised its ugly head. The head (reason) and the heart (relationship) have been corrupted. Our corrupted minds and thinking—known by theologians as the “noetic” effects of sin—produce sinful living. But the converse is true; orthodoxy (correct thinking) in fact leads to orthopraxy (correct practice).
And so this Substack forum is a meager attempt to focus on what is good, true, and beautiful. But in so doing, we need to expose the bad, the false, and the ugly. My intent is to post several paragraphs of thoughts at least several times per week, often in the form of commentary on other writings. As the owner of an independent medical practice and full-time practicing physician, there is little time to engage with reader comments. My intent is to stimulate your thinking so that you can have kitchen table or coffee shop conversations with family and friends.
To that end, may we immerse ourselves in the good, the true, and the beautiful. Or as Paul wrote, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8, ESV).