The Evidential Power of Beauty - Book 29

The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science Meets Theology by Thomas Dubay.  Thomas Dubay was a well loved Marist priest who passed away a few years ago.  He was a popular author, retreat director, counselor and television lecturer on EWTN.  He was known for his depth, intellect and sense of humor.  He was a really gentle man.  You can read more about him here.

Anyway, this title has been intriguing me for years and I finally got around to reading this book on my kindle.

Father Dubay starts out with the science portion of the book.  First he defines what beauty is.  Physicists, astronomers, microbiologists and others, often use the word beauty or elegance or similar terms to describe their findings.  He quotes scientists as saying when they discover something that is beautiful they know it is true.  Mathematics has this simple yet sophisticated elegance and it is the basis for everything in the world.  So what is beauty?  In order to define this he must also define what ugly is and also why some people can't recognize beauty as well as others.

I have to note that in this section of the book, I really disagreed with his very cursory treatment of rock music as 'ugly.'  I think he's thinking rock music is just heavy metal.  I don't think he's seriously listened to any of the many types of rock music for long.  There's soft rock - is the song Cats in the Cradle or songs by James Taylor, for instance, ugly? There are many examples of rock songs that are really poetry put to a beat.  Poetry that moves us, reflects emotions and the human condition in a poignant and compelling and highly listenable way.  Comparing music written for the courts or high society in Europe - which is what 'classical' music is, is not taking a very broad view of music from all over the world.  Rock music is closer to folk music, except that it got exploited commercially and used to define generations so as to make them better consumers of goods that Madison Avenue wants to sell them.  Divide and conquer is a good selling strategy, it turns out.  Some rock music is really awful and ugly and evil.  But even then beauty peeps through.  I think the Guns and Roses song Child of Mine is wonderful because you can't believe such a tender love-filled lullaby can come from such a source!  Or Kurt Cobain's scream of Here We Are Now, Entertain Us.  So lost, so full of sorrow.  It is beautiful because of its tragedy and the truth that it gives us a glimpse of.  So I think even in ugly places, beauty peeps through, sometimes.

But that really is just a quibble.  This book is so large and attempts to cover so much, that this differing of opinion didn't deter me from taking the other things Father Dubay said seriously.

Father goes on to really delve into the myriad of examples of beauty in science.  He divides this into three chapters:  Macromarvels - exploring the cosmos, Midimarvels - the world we see around us and Micromarvels - the microscopic world.  In each chapter he gives example after example of the wonders that scientists have discovered on each level, wonders of amazing complexity and unfathomable detail and searing beauty.

He then gets into the Intelligent Design theory which he obviously agrees with.  I was a little cautious reading this because I have heard good solid believers criticize this approach as shallow.  The main argument I've heard is the 'God of the Gaps" response, which is that if something is irreducibly complex, then it must mean it is designed to be that way.  I am not sophisticated enough to know if Father Dubay was really arguing this.  I am a creationist in that I believe God is the creator.  How He did it, I leave to science to find out.  I do think it is perfectly reasonable to look around and think that somebody must have started all this!  The more I learn about science (which isn't so much since I am not scientifically minded) the more I marvel at the universe's amazing qualities, which in turn makes me praise and thank the Creator.  Beauty does point me to my Creator.  I do think that analogy of the man walking along the beach who finds a watch (and has never seen one before) will automatically know it was not something that nature developed but rather something designed by an intelligent being, makes perfect sense.

Maybe the problem with the irreducible design argument is that if and when scientists realize things are reducible, will that prove that God wasn't the designer?  To me that seems like a narrow reading of God's capabilities when it comes to creating.

Father Dubay then goes on to discuss the Big Bang theory (developed by a priest) and the anthropic principle, which I've heard about before.  That is, that if the universe had expanded a fraction of time more slowly or more quickly, life and thus mankind could never have come about.  The first time I heard this was many years ago trying to read a book by Brian Swimme.  It absolutely sent chills up and down my spine!

The second half of the book is devoted to how Theology also uses beauty as a test for proof.  The most beautiful example of this is the sanctity of the saints.  This chapter is a wonderful read, very deeply spiritual.  He also talks about the beauty of revelation and the mystical experience of God as a glimpse of the beauty we will find in heaven.  It made me want to read Father Dubay's book The Fire Within which focuses on the mysticism of St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.

This book is a JOYFUL read.  There is so much contained in this book.  Father Dubay writes in a very accessible and personal way, so it is not hard to read at all, but because there is so much mind-blowing food for thought here, it takes a while to get through it and digest it all.  I am sure I didn't give it enough time and could probably benefit from rereading it one or more times to really let it sink in.

So I give this book two thumbs up!  If you want to read more reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.