I like this short list of universally human appeals.
For humanity is all that is concerned about these things.
- Structure
- Harmony
- Justice
- Redemption
- Hope
- Wisdom
- Beauty
- Transcendence
Dogs do not feel emotion over justice. Fish do not consider the possibilities of transcendence. Snails do not philosophize about beauty.
Ravi Zacharias touched on this point when he said evil is raised only “by a person or about a person.”
Again, we are back pointing to religious overtones…
All this reminds me of this list of assumptions that science is not able to prove.
These qualities (structure, harmony, justice, redemption, hope, wisdom, beauty, and transcendence) are profoundly Christian, but also universally human in their appeal, for all humanity is created in the image of God. You don’t have to be Christian to admire the beauty and goodness that arise from a Christian worldview, and we don’t have to reduce them to theological propositions in books about articles of faith.
-John Erickson, Story Craft (Amazon)