The Meaning of Art

The Meaning of Art
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By Jim J. McCrea


Being (or that which exists) has transcendental properties. The transcendental properties of being are so much identified with being, they are literally other names for being.

Some of these are *unity,* *truth,* *goodness,* and *beauty.*

Unity means that a thing, insofar as it has being, is one thing. It is not a disjointed multiplicity. Truth means that it is intelligible. Goodness means that it supplies for the good of other beings. And being as being is beautiful.

Any uncoordinated multiplicity, unintelligibility, evil, or ugliness means that something is lacking what it should have. Those things are not other forms of being.


Now this idea is connected with proper art.

With proper art we have purposeful "distortions" in form, texture, colour, and so forth, so it does not look like a "realistic" photograph.

Why is this done?

This does not to reduce the perception of the reality of the object, person, or situation, but to enhance it.

This purposeful "distortion" in legitimate art enhances one or more of the transcendental properties of being, so these transcendentals shine forth with a brilliance that they would not in a photograph or by looking at it with the plain eyes.

With this, the legitimate purpose of art is to, directly or indirectly, glorify God who has the transcendental properties of being to an infinite degree.

God is infinite unity, truth, goodness, and beauty.



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The Doctrine of the Antichrist

The Doctrine of the Antichrist
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By Jim J. McCrea


The doctrine of Antichrist is not so much a set of dogmas that we would find in a religion, but is more a philosophical world-view.

The spirit of Antichrist is now alive and well, as this philosophy has taken hold of much of Western society, to the extent that it constitutes a kind of tyranny.

Several decades past, when traditional Judeo-Christian morality was dominant in Western society concepts had clear meanings. Now, this is no longer the case. It is considered now that one concept bleeds into another - that nothing is stable and certain, and that traditional distinctions no longer hold.


For example, it is considered that there is no solid distinction between polarities such as God and creation, spirit and matter, human and animal, intelligible and sensible, subjective and objective, male and female, marriage and cohabitation, etc.. In the religious sphere it is considered that there is no proper distinction between sacred and secular, supernatural and natural, and priest and laity

As far as blurring the distinction between God and creation, it is considered that there is no transcendent God who is radically distinct from creation and almighty over it. That is considered childish, and the "enlightened" stance is to hold that God is nothing but the positive energies exhibited by nature and our own inner power. God is thus to be found within by tapping our interior potentials.

There is no distinction held between body and soul and matter and spirit. Thus, training the body and the neurons is the key to spiritual enlightenment, as spirit is considered nothing but the more subtle workings of matter.

The lack of recognized distinction between human and animal allows animals an exaggerated importance to the detriment of human interests. This is connected with the perceived lack of distinction between the sensible and intelligible, as the cleverness of animals to make associations between various sense objects is considered intelligence, and it is not recognized that humans have a cognitive ability different in kind from animals in their capacity to understand abstract concepts.

The lack of recognition between male and female gives rise to the emasculation of males in society and radical feminism. This feeds the tendency to not rightfully recognized homosexuality as a perversion and a deviation, but as a legitimate alternative, as it is seen that a male being drawn to a female is not essential to proper romantic or sexual attraction, but is merely incidental or accidental and such a male could just as properly be attracted to another male.

In the religious sphere, the lack of recognition between the natural and the supernatural and the secular and the sacred, has dumbed down religious services and Masses in the Catholic Church to simply a party - and human relations, pop psychology, sociology, and political activism are preached instead of sacred doctrine and morals.


This is all done in the name of freedom and progress, as the traditional categories are seen as "static" and "rigid" and as limitations on freedom.

However, true freedom and progress require stable and absolute principles that only the traditional categories can provide - it requires the classical polarities.

The necessity for limits and absolutes is explained in Msgr. Pope's article here


** End Note 1 - it is true that there are subtleties, paradoxes, and ambiguities in things and situations, but these are governed by absolute rules on a higher level.

** End Note 2 - The obliteration of the traditional polarities is done in the name of freedom. But it is not free. In reality, it is the opposite. It is close and oppressive. 


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