Book Review: The Evidential Power of Beauty by Thomas Dubay, S.M.

 The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science and Theology Meet by Thomas Dubay, S.M.

Faith and science are popularly (and superficially) seen as opposed. Throughout history, lesser thinkers on both sides have fostered a divide. That division is false in a number of ways. In this book, Father Dubay describes one common ground between the two, the notion of beauty. 

Beauty itself is not a properly understood concept. Again, a superficial understanding sees beauty as relative, as "in the eye of the beholder," not as an objective reality. Dubay points out the classical metaphysical argument that all things have beauty in themselves, just as all things are one, true, and good. A thing naturally has unity, a one-ness or wholeness in itself. As it is knowable, it is thus true. As it is desirable or useful, it is thus good. Beauty is the joy at knowing the goodness of things. Many scientists today argue that scientific proofs are beautiful because they have clarity (knowability) and simplicity (oneness), even if they are not immediately obvious. That those proofs require effort in order to appreciate is not a flaw in the thing, but an insufficiency in the knower. Beauty is objective, based on the knowability and goodness of the beautiful object.

After establishing this groundwork, Dubay looks at different levels of nature, from the microcosm to the macrocosm to human behavior to biblical revelations to theological teachings. All of these have beauty and inspire awe and wonder. He does not shy away from the reality of ugliness and pain. They are signs that something is wrong, something is out of order. Ugly things also point to the objectivity of truth and goodness, characteristics that ought to be there and are conspicuous by their absence. 

Dubay is unabashedly Catholic throughout the book. He constantly references Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Balthasar is a special muse for the book; he had developed a robust theory of beauty. The end of this book looks at the trinitarian life of God and how we as his human creations related to God, and how we will experience the unending joy of the Beatific Vision in the afterlife.

The book is very inspiring though at times repetitive. Some examples get repeated in different chapters but make the exact same point. As far as flaws go, it's relatively minor.

Recommended.