WHAT IS All OF THIS?
In Praise of Folly: A playful and influential essay written in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus to his companion and fellow thinker Thomas More.
Folly (s) / Follies (p): Noun. A costly ornamental building with no practical purpose, especially a tower or mock-Gothic ruin built in a large garden or park.
When Erasmus wrote his essay in honor Folly, he turned the laudatory genre on its head by satirically calling a virtue what had previously been seen as a mere flaw. But just how satirical and nonsensical Erasmus' statement were is still up for debate. From his perspective, Folly pervaded all of human life and, in many cases, was the most influential of all forces because its effects were hidden in weakness while still having a significant impact.
In some ways, the power of Folly ran parallel to the nature of faith and revelation. A human's movement of faith has no empirical nor rational origin, and yet it occurs. The Messiah was originally foreseen to be a mighty hero, one who would save God's people from physical oppression, and yet Jesus came in humility and died at the hands of both the people and their oppressors. But are either of these examples mere folly, or does their power operate beneath the surface, in ways unnoticed by the typical world?
The definition of a folly, as a novelty building, often focuses on the inutility of the construction. In other words, it only exists as a mere curiosity or hobby for its creator. This project humbly seeks to do with follies–of many more kinds than garden constructions–what Erasmus did with Folly itself. In our world there are countless works of art charged with beauty and meaning that are overlooked or unrecognized. My hope is to share these great works with you in a way that is informative, accessible, and, most importantly, affecting. If I can share with you the joy, beauty, or wisdom that these works provided me, I will rest easy.
May I have the skill to display how these works, of no ostensible, practical utility, move mountains by guiding hearts, minds, and souls to greater awareness of the Truth.
-Shane Jenkins
