Being infinitely and perfectly true, good, and beautiful Himself, God is the source of all that is true, all that is good, and all that is beautiful.
From beyond time, space, and all circumstance, God shares these transcendentals as features of reality found in everything that He created.
Made in the image and likeness of God, man is created to strive for perfection and will seek and respond to objective truth, goodness, and beauty.
Truth is the mind being in agreement with reality of God’s creation and revelation. It is independent from opinion or emotion, and can not be influenced by personal preference.
The goodness of a thing depends on the purpose that it was created for, and how well it accomplishes what God intended it to do gives it value.
Not just what appeals to the eye or ear, beauty pleases the mind in ways that delight both the body and soul. God’s presence and excellence is revealed in patterns, harmony, and completeness of things.
Encountering these transcendentals in the world leads man to search for their cause, and ultimately to God, the Creator of everything.
What everyone longs for and responds to:
The divine simplicity of God:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4: 8
Drawn outside ourselves and toward God:
Visible and invisible realities:
Thinking about the difference of God:
All creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and likeness of God. the manifold perfections of creatures – their truth, their goodness, their beauty all reflect the infinite perfection of God. Consequently we can name God by taking his creatures” perfections as our starting point, “for from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator”.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 41
The heart can be misled:
We are reminded of this by Matthew’s Gospel, in which we read the appeal that Jesus addressed to his disciples: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven”. It should be noted that the Greek text speaks of kalà erga, of works that are good and beautiful at the same time, because the beauty of works manifests and expresses, in an excellent synthesis, the goodness and profound truth of the action, as well as the coherence and holiness of those who perform it. The beauty of the works of which the Gospel speaks, refers beyond them to another beauty, truth and goodness whose perfection and ultimate source is in God alone.
Pope Benedict XVI, Message to the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, 24 November 2008
Truth, goodness and beauty at Mass:
Transcendentals in church architecture:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Hidden churches of Amsterdam:
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