From the book...

"The beauty of the Lord undergirds the existence of God. Beauty comes first; we begin with an appreciation of God's character before we deal with the question of God's existence."

"Many believers associate sin with sensuality, and the more intellectual Christians usually link it to selfishness. Jesus, by contrast, often associated sin with insensibility - our determined, seemingly willful inability to feel or perceive."

"As God 'delights in glorifying himself,' Jonathan Edwards affirmed, it is 'beautiful that infinite brightness and glory should shine forth'; thus 'God delights in communicating his happiness to the creature,' and in doing so God 'enjoys himself. ... Edwards concluded that the greatest beauty is in the act of beautifying - bringing others to fulfillment."

"After the Lord passes, what remains is not so much a clear image of another as change in oneself."

"Thou givest me room for my steps, my feet have not faltered (Psalm 18:36). God's moral beauty is the distinctive gift of loving, challenging presence that yet allows the other room for my steps."

"Love is the only motive sufficient to protect the world. When more people engage themselves, affectionately, with the natural life on this planet, the decisions necessary to protect the earth will appear desirable, rather than simply difficult. Because the changes required of human society, in order to give nature its due, will be so far-reaching and challenging, love is essential."