“Such beauty has power,” Adelaida said hotly. “You can overturn the world with such beauty.” –The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoevsky Perhaps the most famous phrase from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s quite voluminous body of writing is the statement that “beauty will save the world.” Much ink has been spilled concerning this phrase by all manner of critics and commentators, both Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike. And without doubt it is extremely important that we Orthodox put due emphasis on the centrality of beauty in our faith — perhaps especially those of us who are children of the West, having all too often inherited an understanding of Christianity which is prone to a cold legalism and an abstract moralism. Such an emphasis on beauty must occur not only in our worship and our theology (after all, in both cases this has already largely been done for us), but also in the inward struggle of
Will Beauty Save the World?
Will Beauty Save the World?
Will Beauty Save the World?
“Such beauty has power,” Adelaida said hotly. “You can overturn the world with such beauty.” –The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoevsky Perhaps the most famous phrase from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s quite voluminous body of writing is the statement that “beauty will save the world.” Much ink has been spilled concerning this phrase by all manner of critics and commentators, both Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike. And without doubt it is extremely important that we Orthodox put due emphasis on the centrality of beauty in our faith — perhaps especially those of us who are children of the West, having all too often inherited an understanding of Christianity which is prone to a cold legalism and an abstract moralism. Such an emphasis on beauty must occur not only in our worship and our theology (after all, in both cases this has already largely been done for us), but also in the inward struggle of