Mary Smith - Sacred and Profane Beauty: The Holy in Art (Class Reading #1)

When we refer to "sacred and profane" what we are referring to is two opposite things put together as a means for comparison. A good example of this would be when we compare good and evil. In this book, it talks about how this is how the world divides into two. That which has worthiness for God's creation in the world and has morals and is just ethnically good is said to be sacred while that which is corrupt or not seeking the best intentions of oneself is said to be profane. Money is the main concern when it comes to god because it is of severe profanity; greed causes man to do unthinkable things that he wouldn't otherwise do. Van der Leeuw's vision and purpose of life is quite obvious, and that is that only God's love is the purest and richest and therefore is the only one sacred to us.