The Creator, like a divine poet, in bringing the world into being out of nothingness, composed his Symphony in Six Days, the Hexameron. After each one of his creative acts, he “saw that is was beautiful.” The Greek text of the biblical sotry uses the word kalon – beautiful and not agathon-good; the Hebrew word carries both meanings at the same time. In addition, the Hebrew verb to create is conjugated in the completed mood. That is to say, the world “has been created, is created, and will be created” until its fulfillment. Even at the moment it leaves God’s hands, the sprout of creation is already beautiful, but this very seedling points to its evolution, to the very lively but tragic history of God and man working together, their synergy. According to St Maximus the Confessor, the realisation of the primal beauty in the perfect Beauty takes place at the end and is called the Kingdom.
From “The Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty” – Paul Evdokimov
Séamus Sweeney 