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lead us to seek the "foolish" wisdom of the Holy Spirit (1 Co. 1,2), manifested in an inner peace
in the face of the disequilibrium that such concurrences create and an unwillingness to foreclose
on truth. Concurrences, then, may help to lead us into virtue. But there is a higher reason for
these mysteries.
The Aesthetic Good of Divine Concurrances
The best reason to appreciate mysteries is aesthetic: such concurrences reveal a beauty to
our minds. The beauty of God is a central theme of Jonathan Edwards. In one of his sermons,
"The Excellency of Christ," he laid side-by-side some of the greatest paradoxes in the person and
life of Christ in order to promote our worship of Him.
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Beginning with Rev.5:5,6, where Christ
is said to be both a lion and a lamb, Edwards played with these contrary descriptions, and
extended the contrast into theological considerations. As God, Edwards wrote, Christ is
infinitely great, yet as man he suffered shame and abuse. "Such a conjunction of infinite
highness and low condescension, in the same person, is admirable."
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Christ was of infinite
majesty, as well as transcendent meekness; he had the deepest reverence for God, yet he was
equal with God. Utterly self-sufficient as God, he lived on earth in dependence on God and
vulnerable to abuse by sinners. These contrasts, Edwards felt, reveal the supreme beauty of
Christ. The greater the contrast of qualities in the same person, Edwards thought, the greater that
person's beauty and excellence.
Grasping such wondrous contrasts, because they challenge our reason, lead us to
worship. In addition, there is a kind of cognitive depth and richness that occurs as each member
of the concurrence is allowed to "play off" the other. Christ's majesty is especially beautiful
when seen in relation to his humiliation. And his majesty casts a glow on his humiliation that