While in Protestant circles striving for the True and Good are relatively undis- puted value systems, many Protestants, and especially Evangelicals, have diffi- culty with the third category: striving for the Beautiful. For historical reasons, all that is pictorial, symbolic, ritual, and sacramental has been banned from many churches, since their founders had only seen excessive abuse in these areas. Thus, the whole aesthetic value system is suspected of being “heretical.” As if humans only have ears and no eyes, as if there is no need to address the imagination, the emotions, and the senses as well! In its justified quest of correcting errors, the Reformation has been guilty of throwing out the baby with the bath water. For that reason, in some Protestant churches, believers with a primarily aesthetic value system have a hard time finding an approach to spirituality that suits them. In contrast, the Eastern theological tradition has a long history of emphasizing the significance of aesthetic desire for spiritual transformation. In Protestant churches as a whole, this dimension is not absent, but it is usually less developed...Excerpt from The 3 Colors of Your Spirituality - Christian A. Schwarz
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