The Appreciation of Beauty

Posted on: 27 October 2024 by Andrew Perry
Posted in: [Creation]

Just a couple of days ago, I was driving home against the backdrop of a particularly spectacular sunset. I live on the Wirral Peninsula in the north-west of England, my home being about a mile inland from the coast. Being on the west coast of England, we are blessed with a good number of beautiful sunsets, every one of which is different from another. For those of you who know the local area, I was driving from Wallasey towards our home in Moreton along Leasowe Road. As one approaches a left-hand bend in the road that turns towards Moreton, there is a coastal car park on the right. I felt the urge to pull in and run as quickly as possible up the embankment to the top of the sea wall, in order to capture some photos. The sun had actually gone down by this point, but the view was still amazing.

On a different note, we are a family of dog lovers, though at the time of writing, we are in between having any dogs. In the past when we have taken our dog for a walk, she would enjoy running around a field, a park or the beach, sniffing out various things. That is part of a dog's world which we as humans do not fully appreciate. At the same time, we might however be enjoying the beauty of the landscape, the coastline or a sunset, and I am quite certain that a dog does not have the same capacity to appreciate beauty as we do. Why might this be?

According to evolutionary theory, every characteristic possessed by an animal is acquired because it supposedly has some survival value. Where would the appreciation of beauty come into this equation? It is hard to see it as having any survival value, added to which, the great likelihood is that it is not possessed by any creatures other than ourselves. If one were to analyse the situation, I think it would be fair to say that the appreciation of beauty is a complex brain function and is also something that is closely tied to self-awareness (a subject that I will look into in more detail at a later date).

The best explanation for our ability to appreciate beauty has surely got to relate to the fact that we have been created in God's image, and that God in His great love for us has endowed us with the ability to enjoy good things.

The Beginning of Time

6000 Years and One Family