Abstract
Contemporary theology has increasingly attended to the category of the beautiful. The relation of beauty to the theme of theosis implies two questions: Is God beautiful? Does earthly beauty lead to God? A strong Christian tradition sees beauty as a quality of the divine and of grace, sometimes explicitly relating it to divinization. But for Christian theology, the revelation of God in Christ and in his cross transforms the notion of beauty itself to include what in itself seems unattractive. A converted sense of beauty is both the sign of theosis and a means to attaining it.
O Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance, preserve the fullness of your church; sanctify those who love the beauty of Your House; glorify them in return by your divine power.
—Prayer of the Second Antiphon, Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
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