Paradiso 3: The Moon/Inconstancy/Piccarda

[Everyman]

Adelle wrote: "I read something else this week that seems worth considering. That fundamentally there is a requirement that the various saved souls in the Paradiso reflect differently. Because God saves individuals; therefore there must be individuals in Paradise. Not a collection of souls indistingishable one from another/ all equal; but souls that in truth reflect the value and worth of their spirituality. "

That's a very interesting point. But then again, theologically, shouldn't all souls which merit entry into Paradise be totally cleansed of all attributes which differentiate (and therefore necessarily separate) one from another?

If you asked contemporary Christians what sort of Heaven they envision, one of equality where all are equal in the eyes of God, or one where there are levels, some of the saved being close to God and some further away, I wonder what the response would be.

[Lily]

Everyman wrote: "...Could we really expect him to envisioned a world of total equality, where there was neither East nor West, border nor breed nor birth? ..."

My reaction, most definitely not. But, he did profess to be a Christian and was writing of a profoundly Christian spiritual journey, so there are Biblical linkages and clues one does find oneself looking at and for. Often he touches on some of the issues in very interesting ways -- such as that the movements from place to place in Paradise are not indicators of preferential treatment.

[Everyman]

A minor point, but perhaps interesting. At line 75 Piccarda says that God decides who goes where in Paradise.

The contemporary, at least the popular, concept is of St. Peter standing at the gate deciding who enters Heaven, so it is his job, not God's, to make the selection, as Minos does for Satan in Hell.

But St. Peter has no role here in Dante's Paradise. Was Matthew 16:19 not interpreted this way in Dante's time? Or did he just ignore this aspect of scripture?

[Lily]

@41Lily wrote: "A "new" Paradiso?

http://www.actualitte.com/images/news...

I still want a recliner, to say nothing of "real" books.

Hmmm... maybe: http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml... ..."

Or maybe here (not too shabby):

http://www.filoli.org/images/photos/h...



Filoli's library (Woodside, CA) -- a copy of the library at Denham Place, England.

More here: http://www.filoli.org/explore-filoli/...

American versions of grand houses for Downton Abbey fans. From this article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/16/travel/...

(I know, another sidebar that probably doesn't really belong here, but this seemed linked to the previous.)

[Laurel]

Everyman wrote: "A minor point, but perhaps interesting. At line 75 Piccarda says that God decides who goes where in Paradise.

The contemporary, at least the popular, concept is of St. Peter standing at the gat..."

See Purgatorio 9.117ff.

[Lily]

Laurele wrote: "...I'm sitting in my recliner in my library of beautiful books reading the Hollanders's Paradiso on my Kindle and comparing it to paperbacks of Longfellow and Sayers and pausing a moment to send this post via my iPad...."

I finally did it. Even though I have the paperback of Hollanders's Paradiso , I have not been carrying it around with me. Tonight I got tired of not having it on my Kindle and broke down and bought the Kindle version. I am very glad to have done so -- with a few glitches which may be my hardware rather than the document, the moving back and forth between text and notes has been a delight! And now I can have it with me for the remainder of our reading period. Just too bad it is so expensive, especially when one already has the paper version, otherwise I'd love to have the other two books as well!

[Laurel]

Good move, Lily!