Christian Philosophy of Comedy: High Comedy

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High comedy "typically uses satirical wit in the context of upper-class societies" [1]. In other words, high comedy is a form of comedy wherein the comedian satirizes things in the societies of a society's (forgive the double-use of the word "society") classes. So, by 1) applying the ultimate principle of Christian comedy (namely, making people laugh in such a way where God is glorified) and 2) filtering that principle through our definition of high comedy, let's see how God can be glorified through this comedic genre!

So, how can God be glorified in high comedy? First, for God to be glorified means God is shown to be great, which means God is shown to be what and who He is (as He reveals Himself via the Bible), because He is essentially and intrinsically great. Indeed, He Himself is the Standard of greatness (true greatness, that is). Second, since high comedy, again, is holding up the vices of the most powerful classes in a society to ridicule [2], high comedy can glorify God by exposing the ridiculousness of the upper classes' sins in such a way where people God is shown to be great by His opposition to such evils. "Shown" is an essential word here, because, as with other forms of art, comedy (including high comedy) should show, not tell.

Now, what would this look like in practice? Honestly, it's hard for me to think of a demonstration right now (apart from examples in the Bible itself-look those up!), so I'll just end the post here for now.

I pray this will be a blessing to Christian comedians now and to be!

[1] https://www.masterclass.com/articles/types-of-comedy

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satire