Redeeming Beauty

Redeeming Beauty explores the depth of the Christian tradition—both Western and Eastern—in its understanding of sacred aesthetics, the theology of beauty as it relates to divine revelation, creation, and art. Fr. Aidan Nichols, OP, examines how beauty serves as both a reflection of God’s creative power and a pathway to holiness.

Nichols investigates five central themes:

• The foundation of beauty in the natural order as an expression of divine creativity

• Beauty as a quality of biblical revelation, culminating in the person of Christ

• The legitimacy and purpose of creating and venerating sacred art

• The relationship between the human person and the objective reality of religious beauty

• The challenges of pursuing and perceiving sacred beauty in a secular age

Engaging with theologians such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Joseph Ratzinger, Sergeĭ Bulgakov, and Jacques Maritain, Nichols traces how beauty mediates truth and goodness and remains essential to evangelization and worship.

Redeeming Beauty invites readers to rediscover how the Christian vision of beauty can illuminate art, faith, and human culture in a world that has largely turned away from the sacred.

About the Author

Aidan Nichols, OP, is a Dominican priest of Blackfriars, Cambridge, and one of the most prolific Catholic theologians writing in English today. He is the author of numerous works on Catholic and Orthodox theology, philosophy, and culture.