We discuss the necessity of beauty for the attractiveness of the good and the true, and beauty's role in moving us toward God. We're joined by Jacob Gruber, a seminarian, whose contributions to the discussion are great indeed.
We reference Hans Urs von Balthasar right off the bat:
https://www.amazon.com/Glory-Lord-Vol-2nd-Ed/dp/1586173219/ref=sr_1_16?keywords=hans+urs+von+balthasar&qid=1573075352&sr=8-16
And here is the quote: "In a world without beauty-- even if people cannot dispense with the word and constantly have it on the tip of their tongues in order to abuse it-- in a world which is perhaps not wholly without beauty, but which can no longer see it or reckon with it: in such a world the good also loses its attractiveness, the self-evidence of why it must be carried out. Man stands before the good and asks himself why it must be done and not rather its alternative, evil. For this, too, is a possibility, and even the more exciting one: Why not investigate Satan's depths? In a world that no longer has enough confidence in itself to affirm the beautiful, the proofs of the truth have lost their cogency. In other words, syllogisms may still dutifully clatter away like rotary presses or computers which infallibly spew out an exact number of answers by the minute. But the logic of these answers is itself a mechanism which no longer captivates anyone. The very conclusions are no longer conclusive. And if this is how the transcendentals fare because one of them has been banished, what will happen with Being itself?"
We also reference Josef Pieper's Only the Lover Sings: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0898703026/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i9
And St. Dionysius's On the Divine Names: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Names-Mystical-Theology/dp/1785165356/ref=sr_1_15?qid=1573075779&refinements=p_27%3ADionysius+the+Areopagite&s=books&sr=1-15&text=Dionysius+the+Areopagite
(We're listing the above with the caveat that I didn't check with Jacob as to which translation of this work is best...)
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Edit: Jacob recommends the translation by C.E. Rolt: https://www.amazon.com/Dionysius-Areopagite-Divine-Mystical-Theology/dp/0892540958/ref=pd_sbs_14_1/144-2902010-6046411?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0892540958&pd_rd_r=7997486f-494e-4c68-9a38-283eb07edb73&pd_rd_w=6Cs6r&pd_rd_wg=ndCHQ&pf_rd_p=52b7592c-2dc9-4ac6-84d4-4bda6360045e&pf_rd_r=W7V8045VENT15P3KQB6S&psc=1&refRID=W7V8045VENT15P3KQB6S
And he did recommend Thomas Dubay's book on beauty: The Evidential Power of Beauty: https://www.amazon.com/Evidential-Power-Beauty-Science-Theology/dp/0898707528/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=thomas+dubay+beauty&qid=1573489921&s=books&sr=1-1
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And the 10 Commandments. And perhaps a few more resources.
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As always,
