Dante’s Guide to God: Church and Salvation in The Divine Comedy Skylar Joseph Tyler Winstead And Silvio Defant As Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri Born in Florence c.1265 May-June Dante Alighieri Born in Florence c.1265 May-June Loyalties to the Guelphs, caught in Dante Alighieri Born in Florence Loyalties to the Battle of Capaldino c.1265 May-June Guelphs, caught in in 1289 Studies Theology in Dominican and Franciscan churches c.1292 Dante Alighieri Born in Florence c.1265 May-June Loyalties to the Guelphs, caught in Battle of Capaldino in 1289 Studies Theology in Dominican and Franciscan churches c.1292 Accused of bribery& corruption in 1302 Dante Alighieri Born in Florence c.1265 May-June Loyalties to the Guelphs, caught in Battle of Capaldino in 1289 Studies Theology in Dominican and Franciscan churches c.1292 Accused of bribery & corruption in 1302 Initially fined; eventually exiled for 15 years Dante Alighieri Born in Florence c.1265 May-June Loyalties to the Guelphs, caught in Battle of Capaldino in 1289 Studies Theology in Dominican and Franciscan churches c.1292 Accused of bribery & corruption in 1302 Initially fined; eventually exiled for 15 years Begins work on The Commedia in 1308 Dante Alighieri Born in Florence c.1265 May-June Loyalties to the Guelphs, caught in Battle of Capaldino in 1289 Studies Theology in Dominican and Franciscan churches c.1292 Accused of bribery & corruption in 1302 Initially fined; eventually exiled for 15 years Begins work on The Commedia in 1308 The Commedia is finished shortly before is death in 1321 The Divine Comedy The Comedy in our Scope Portrayal of the Church: Popes and Saints Christian ideals of salvation Dante’s method of salvation The souls journey to God The Papacy of the Inferno 1277-1280 Pope Nicolas III: Nepotism, Simony, Vatican 1294-1303 Pope Boniface VIII: Political agenda, Simony, Palestrina 1305-1314 Pope Clement V: Avignon, Simony The Eighth Circle of Hell: Fraud (Simony) Home of previously mentioned Popes Sentenced to be half-buried into the ground head-first with a never wavering flame licking their feet Obviously a slam on certain Popes Portrayal of Popes in the Inferno “Are you already standing there, o Boniface? The book has lied to me by several years. Are you so quickly sated with the riches for which you did not fear to take by guile the Lovely Lady, then to violate her?” (Canto XIX, 52-57) Portrayal of Popes in the Inferno “Are you already standing there, o Boniface? The book has lied to me by several years. Are you so quickly sated with the riches for which you did not fear to take by guile the Lovely Lady, then to violate her?” (Canto XIX, 52-57) “He [Boniface] asked me to give counsel. I was silent. his words had seemed to me delirious. And then he said: 'Your heart must not mistrust: I now absolve you in advance-teach me to batter Palestrina to the ground. You surely know that I possess the power to lock and unlock Heaven; for the keys my predecessor did not prize are two.” (Canto XXVII, 98-105) Portrayal of Popes in the Inferno “Are you already standing there, o Boniface? The book has lied to me by several years. Are you so quickly sated with the riches for which you did not fear to take by guile the Lovely Lady, then to violate her?” (Canto XIX, 52-57) “He [Boniface] asked me to give counsel. I was silent. his words had seemed to me delirious. And then he said: 'Your heart must not mistrust: I now absolve you in advance-teach me to batter Palestrina to the ground. You surely know that I possess the power to lock and unlock Heaven; for the keys my predecessor did not prize are two.” (Canto XXVII, 98-105) “For after him will come one of fouler deeds from the west, a lawless shepherd, one fit to cover him and me.” (Canto XIX, 127-130) The Eighth Circle of Hell: Fraud (Simony) If Popes and the Church are not our way to God, then how can we hope to achieve salvation? Section II: Purgatorio Love and Purgatory Fate and free will explained in terms of love Love ultimately comes from God, who is Infinite Love and instills it in each of his creatures God allows each man free will by dividing up man's loves (desires) Natural Love vs. Mental Love The natural inherently loves the ultimate good (God); Natural love is one’s innate attraction to God (whether or not one is conscious of it) and it is fated Mental love can desire whatever attracts it (usually beautiful things) and must be trained to desire only worthy things All of the sins punished in Purgatory are forms of perverted love or love expressed in improper measure. Love motivates all human action. “Love kindled by virtue always kindles another, provided that its flame appear outwardly…” (Canto XXII 10-12) Section III: Paradiso St. Augustine’s ‘Mystic’ Will “Practical mysticism” elevating the appreciation of will for man St. Augustine’s ‘Mystic’ Will “Practical mysticism” elevating the appreciation of will for man “If the world were converted to Christianity, […] without miracles, this alone is such that the others are not the hundredth part…” XXIV 106-108) (Canto Dionysius of the Areopagus Dante credits him with superhuman knowledge of matters in paradise, especially of the angelic choirs Based on Corinthians II, St. Paul, who taught Dionysius, while still living had risen to Heaven and beheld its divine mysteries, and afterwards revealed these to Dionysius Dionysius of the Areopagus “And Dionysius with so great desire To contemplate these Orders set himself, He named them and distinguished them as I do. But Gregory afterwards dissented from him; Wherefore, as soon as he unclosed his eyes Within this heaven, he at himself did smile. And if so much of secret truth a mortal Proffered on earth, I would not have thee marvel, For he who saw it here revealed it to him, With much more of the truth about these circles.“ (Canto XXVIII 130-139) Gregory the Great’s Prayer Power Prayer as an almost mystical method of salvation (resurrection of Trajan) Gregory the Great’s Prayer Power Prayer as an almost mystical method of salvation (resurrection of Trajan) “For the one who came back unto his bones from Hell, where there is never return to righteous will; and that was the reward of living hope; of living hope; which put its power into the prayers made to God to raise him up, so that it might be possible for his will to move.” (Canto XX 106-112) St. Bernard and Practical Piety Preached the unification of man with himself. Not in God, but through God, is our highest understanding reconciled with our loftiest desire Practical Piety St. Bernard and Practical Piety “Now doth this man, who from the lowest depth of the universe as far as here has seen one after one the spiritual lives, supplicate thee through grace for so much power that with his eyes he may uplift himself higher towards the uttermost salvation. And I, who never burned for my own seeing more than I do for his, all of my prayers proffer to thee, and pray they come not short” (Canto XXIII 22-30) St. Francis and Franciscan Love Admired by Dante as a model for his method of peace and love as salvation St. Francis and Franciscan Love Admired by Dante as a model for his method of peace and love as salvation “… take Francis and Poverty for these lovers. Their concord and their glad semblances made live, and wonder, and sweet regard to be cause of holy thoughts; so that the venerable Bernard first bared his feet, and ran following such great peace…” (Canto XI 74-80) Final Words Questions…? Bibliography Catholic Encyclopedia http://www.newadvent.org/ Medieval Culture: An Introduction to Dante and his Times, Karl Vossler, Frederick Ungar Publishing, NY 1958 Medieval Cultural Tradition in Dante’s Comedy, Joseph Anthony Mazzeo, Greenwood Press, NY 1968 The New Encyclopedia Britanica, volume five, William Benton, Chicago, 1981 A Diversity of Dante, Thomas Goddard Bergin, New Brunswick NJ, 1965