© The Author(s) 2016 103
K.J. Archer, L.W. Oliverio, Jr. (eds.), Constructive
Pneumatological Hermeneutics in Pentecostal Christianity,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-58561-5_7
CHAPTER 7
Beautifying the Beautiful Word: Scripture,
the Triune God, and the Aesthetics
of Interpretation
Chris E.W. Green
C. E.W. Green ( )
Pentecostal Theological Seminary , Cleveland , TN , USA
“Human nature’s perfection is nothing but this endless desire for beauty and
more beauty, this hunger for God.” 1
“God’s splendour... reveals and authenticates itself precisely in its own appar-
ent antithesis.” 2
“A pentecostal epistemology is always already a kind of aesthetic.” 3
I NTRODUCTION: ORIGEN ON HEARING AND PLAYING
THE MUSIC OF GOD
In his refl ections on the seventh beatitude, Origen argues that peacemakers
bear witness to their vocation-in-Christ primarily in the way they handle the
scriptures. 4 He identifi es three primary dimensions of this witness. First, as
they are being conformed to Christ’s image, these peacemakers discover
the peace of the scriptures, which are at peace in the oneness of their wit-
