Redeemer’s Motto is Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — VERITAS, BONITAS, and PULCHRITUDO in Latin. These three words are often referred to in Philosophical circles as the Transcendentals. They are modes of reality, in that they each show us a facet of what is real. By exploring them we gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for all things as they really are.
In Greek philosophy, these concepts represented Prime Reality; that is, the object or power which gives being and meaning to everything else. In Christian theology we understand that Prime Reality can only be found in God. He is the being that bestows life and meaning on everything that exists. This is, in part, what God means when he says that his name is “I am that I am” (YHWH; Ex. 3:14). He is the being that gives being to all other beings.
So it follows that the Transcendentals are not, in and of themselves, Prime Reality, but they are attributes of God. Specifically, they are what we call communicable attributes, because they are seen and experienced in creation — including in mankind. Anglican Theologian E.B. Pusey puts it beautifully when he says, “...every truth has its being from Him; every law of nature has the impress of His hand; everything beautiful has caught its light from His eternal beauty; every principle of goodness has its foundation in his attributes…”1
But by their very nature the true, the good and the beautiful are subversive today. Yes, we retain those words and use them frequently, but they no longer carry the same meaning. And anyone using them in the traditional sense (i.e. they way they’ve been understood for all of human history until very recently) will be counter cultural. Traditionally the transcendentals were understood to be absolute and objective. Their very name speaks to how they transcend time, space, culture, and the individual person.
In today’s world, though, truth, goodness, and beauty are no longer considered transcendent. Rather, they have been relegated to the individual to define them as they wish, and, in doing so, have lost all meaning. In contemporary culture truth, goodness, and beauty mean whatever you or I want them to mean; they have become mere proxies for personal philosophies.
Truth has become confused with opinion.
Goodness has been transformed to that which benefits me the most.
Beauty is entirely in the eye of the beholder.
It would be incorrect, I think, to say that they no longer point to Prime Reality and absolute values. It is more accurate to say that prime reality has been shifted to each individual ego. That is why these three, once transcendent values have become so subjective. In other words, the world preaches that we each are our own god that can fill the categories of truth, goodness, and beauty with whatever meaning we choose.
One of the chief problems with this, however, is that we cannot bear the weight of being our own gods. The weight (gravitas) of giving meaning to all things — of being prime reality, of being God — is an infinite one and, therefore, can only be sustained by an infinite being. This weight simply crushes finite beings. I believe that the increasing rates of anxiety, depression, and loneliness are (at least in part) attributable to this overwhelming weight of striving to be our own gods.
The only way to resolve this issue — to lift this weight — is to make ourselves smaller, humbler, and more dependent. In the words of John the Baptist,“[Christ] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). We need to put away the tools of our self-glorification and self-deification (perhaps chiefly smartphones and social media) and to stand at the foot of a mountain, or the shore of an ocean, or under the shade of a large oak tree — to be reminded that there is something greater than ourselves. We must find those tangible examples of truth, goodness, and beauty outside of ourselves, bigger than ourselves, that we had no hand in creating.
Our students need this reminder, as well. In this light “truth, goodness, and beauty” is more than a motto for us; it’s more than a shortcut for the liberal arts, or classical education; it’s more than a marketing tool, or a way of distinguishing us from other schools. It’s a rallying cry — a reminder of what matters, of what is really real, of who God is and who we are in relation to him. It’s a reminder that there is a world outside of our own mind and that there are absolute and objective principles to which you and I are both accountable. In other words, the good, the true and the beautiful give meaning and purpose to all that we do at Redeemer Classical School.
1 Bold added. Quoted in B.B. Warfield’s article “The Idea of Systematic Theology”