Tag: The Divine Comedy

August 23, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Conclusion

August 23, 2024 /

We are finally at the last act for Dante. If you recall when I started, I was trying to delve more into faith with fiction. It didn’t take long for me to discover that this was more fiction with a faith backdrop. This lead to a long period of disappointment until I reconciled with Dante. More on that in a minute.

It was late into Paradise when I had a revelation. I always knew that Dante was destined to head back to earth. It was this story that he was commanded to take back. That was the genesis story for the Devine comedy.

If I had to stack rank the three books, this would be my order Purgatory, Hell and then Heaven. I know that might be a surprise, I think that I am too. But, of the story Purgatory actually makes the most sense to me. I still don’t believe in Purgatory, but I can understand the logic of how it works. I liked the creativeness of Hell and I was disappointed with Heaven.

I am glad that I read it. With the dust settled a bit, I can appreciate it a little more. It is considered one of the great works of literature. I don’t respect ‘great’ too much but it did allow me to contemplate my own faith given the contrasting opinion with Dante’s view of faith. It is one of those things that you can check off but I don’t think that I will likely be reading it again.

I think that you could probably read this twenty times to catch all of the nuances. I found myself getting caught up in all of the footnotes and backstory to really get in the groove. Some nights it was really hard because my reading was so disjointed flipping back and forth between the footnotes and the actual text. I could hardly remember what I read.

I know that you were all reading along with me right? Sure. Would I recommend this as an entertaining work of fiction? Honestly, I would say no. This is a scholarly work that is deep in Italian history, Greek and Roman mythology and Catholic regimen. I am not telling you what to do, but I am telling you that this is very hard to read. It is harder to understand and impossible to fully identify with.

I have heard that some reading clubs do The Devine Comedy in 100 days. This is because there are 100 Cantos. As much as I read, that would be pretty hard for me to do. Each Canto represented approximately 30 minutes each for me. So, I have about fifty hours into the book. Realistically a lot more than that but who is counting.

You can’t blame Dante really. He was pissed off about getting banished from his home. I would make fun of my enemies too if I were to write a story. The name Comedy was in the title. So shame on me for having different expectations. While I didn’t laugh much, I could see the sarcasm and irony both elements of humor. I am sure that if I had more context with many of the characters, I might have found it more funny.

I can’t remember if I said this or not, I think that I have. Despite not being a Catholic, I have a deep respect for the organization. There is no doubt that many bad things have been done in the name of the Lord. It is the mission of the church that I admire and not the people. That is one of the things that a lot of Catholics seem to miss, including Dante.

End Your Programming Routine: My final answer is that I am glad I read it and I am glad that I am done. Since I read the inferno in high school, reading the full work gave me a much more comprehensive view of the story. I am definitely looking forward to turning the page on The Art of War.

August 16, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Conclusion

August 16, 2024 /

So, it has been a long road. Part of me wants to wrap things up completely and part of me wants to savor the end. Since I had a summary at the end of each book, I thought. It muddy the waters between the thoughts of Paradise versus the entire work. While I will save my total thoughts to next week, you can probably guess based on the sum of all of my writings.

Dante’s Paradise is comprised of nine official, ten total and eleven technical levels. The eleventh is technically pre-paradise but I took that as it’s own week since there was all of the pomp and pageantry of crossing the river and such. Those levels were

  • Moon – Incontent
  • Mercury – Ambitious
  • Venus – Lovers
  • Sun – Wise
  • Mars – Warriors
  • Jupiter – Rulers
  • Saturn – Contemplatives
  • Fixed Stars – Faith, Hope and Love
  • Primum Mobile – Angels
  • The Empyrean – God and the highest of high

I guess my summed impression is different than Dante’s. First, I never imagined that heaven would have levels. I was told that someone dies, that we would meet in Heaven. If we came from two different positions in life, based on Dante’s description we could be on two different levels forever. It could be my earthly thinking but I want to believe that my version of Heaven is the more accurate one.

Second, I haven’t dwelled much on what heaven would actually be like. I always kind of thought it would be euphoric. But, Dante may be more right than me in this area. Contentment might be the better virtue description here. What could be a better state than perpetual contentment never wanting or never needing.

Like the previous books, I find it convenient that Beatrice, an essentially unknown historical figure and love of Dante’s life is his guide and takes a seat at the top. In the lower levels the figures of interest are Dante’s enemies and people that he holds in disdain. It definitely tempers how I feel about the potential accuracy of Paradise.

Ultimately, Paradise left me feeling a little underwhelmed. I was expecting more big named bible stars and historical figures like the previous two books. I think that the work does little to settle the free will vs. predestination argument. It seems like Dante was talking out of both sides of his mouth with both mechanisms in play.

My version of Christianity has predestination as the end of your life but free will as what you do in between the beginning and end. I think that we are predestined to go to heaven unless we do things to interrupt that. And I would imagine us all ending in the Empyrean not permanently on different planets.

End Your Programming Routine: Next week I will issue the final verdict for the entire work. Don’t forget that we will be starting the Art of War following that. I haven’t even had a chance to look at the book yet despite I have had it in my possession for several months. While Paradise is not what I ultimately expected, it doesn’t mean that it is still my ultimate goal.

August 9, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXX – XXXIII

August 9, 2024 /

We are at the the end. I am not totally sure how this fits into the cosmology scene. Since there was already a level on the sun it is not that. This blazing rose is so bright that Dante cannot see Beatrice’s face. Is this an actual star? Who know.

Empyrean is full of mysteries but also contains some answers. For instance, why does this not merit a level? I suppose that it could be like pre-hell or pre-purgatory but this is a final destination. It is the prize. Unlike the pre stages, those are waiting for entry and will ultimately get the soul’s just desserts.

One thing that is finally solved for me was where were the rock starts of the Old Testament? With the exception of David, we finally get to see some of them here like Moses. There were plenty of very faithful souls that never got a mention like Noah and Jonas. Instead, we got a whole lot of popes and kings that had very little overall influence on Christianity.

Without delving too much into theology, there was a path before the crucifixion to heaven. If I were trying to write a convincing story I would think that it has to include many of the known characters that were extremely faithful and surely I would expect to see before Adam and Eve.

I never gave it much thought. I suppose that Adam and Eve represent the Christian foundation of humanity but they were the origin of sin. They did disobey God so it is hard to me to believe that they deserve higher seats than others. I have to say that I am conflicted on this one.

As the rose is described, God is at the center of it. There are layers of petals that are seats belonging to the ultra faithful. The closer you got to the center the more godlike you were. There were some interesting choices with seats in the rose. One of them was a whole vertical of Hebrew women. Another was unborn children. Of course none of this was really explained or detailed. There you go Catholics. At least all of the aborted fetuses have a seat next to God.

Dante’s time is short here as he must return to earth. He never sees or God or Jesus. Not too much is said about them other than it is too bright to stare into. I find it interesting that the apostles are in the lower levels of heaven and yet Beatrice, Dante’s personal obsession ranks higher than the founders of Christianity.

Finally, there is no doubt that Mary is worthy of being next to God. She was chosen by God. But, since I am not Catholic, I don’t hold the same reverence for the Virgin Mary. In fact, in my book Bernard’s prayer to the Virgin Mary borders on idol worship, the first commandment. I kind of keep my distance from this whole idea but ‘thou shalt not have any idols before me’ is a violation of that. Mary is not one of the Trinity (father, son and Holy Spirit) nor is she in the center. I rest here.

End Your Programming Routine: We have gone through many, many weeks of this tome. Next week I will be talking about Paradise in total. My final thoughts will be the entire work the following week. If we are looking farther than that ahead, the next Brooke is going to be Sun Tsu’s Art of War. Keeping it here one last time, according to Dante the ultimate reward is true love. That is something that modern Christianity can identify with.

July 26, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXIII – XXVII

July 26, 2024 /

This is the eighth level also known as the fixed stars. In some ways, it is kind of fitting because the fixed stars are the rock stars of Christianity. This is the level that we get to meet some of the apostles and Dante get’s a test of his worthiness.

I was doing some math and it seems like there are more than nine levels to Paradise. Next week I will be talking about the Primum Mobile. That isn’t’t the end of the story, there is still one more week or level or however you want to phrase it called Empyrean. More on those two things in the following weeks, I just wanted to acknowledge that I will be talking for more than nine weeks on the content of Paradise.

The fixed stars specifically focus on faith, hope and love. Now there is a Christianity that is more familiar to me. It is none other than Peter who interacts with Dante about faith. That would be Peter the apostle and Peter the founder of the (Catholic) church.

The answer is pretty much what you would expect from a lay person. In fact, I have gone to baptism class multiple times in the Catholic church. I think that it was six weeks of evenings where we were questioned and taught to assess our worthiness of being god parents. I feel like I got a little bit of a pass there because the entire class was in Spanish. We believe mostly the same things. I won’t promise to raise the kids Catholic but I will raise them to know God should that need arise. At this point, there is only one minor remaining anyway, but I digress.

Dante’s answer is I have faith because of all the miracles documented in the Bible. Because the Bible is true, then I have faith in God. That was totally an answer that I would have heard in that parenting class. It is not wrong but I feel like faith is so much deeper than that.

I don’t know how I would do on the spot but I think that my answer is a little different than that. Faith defies concrete proof of its existence. Faith is blind in its acceptance. Faith exists despite the ability to provide facts and supporting evidence. I have faith because of what it is and who I am. My faith would only change with proof to the contrary, that God does not exist.

There have been certain times in my life that something came into my head like a message or an answered prayer. I choose to believe that validates my faith and confirms my bias towards the existence of God. I mean, a better answer from Dante would have honestly been, “How else do you explain this wild ride I have been on”?

Dante also meets James on the test of hope and John on the question of love. Throw in a little Adam of the original man fame in there as well. After Dante passes his tests, Peter doesn’t miss a chance to flame the current church as well. Lord knows they likely deserved it. We are still seeing some of that fallout today.

End Your Programming Routine: If you are keeping mental tally, each level we go up, the bigger the personalities are. This level also contains some angels as it is written but it is all about what you did on earth to earn your spot. This is a theme that will continue to the end. Next week it will be Cantos XXVII- XXXIX for the final level paradise.

July 19, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXI – XXII

July 19, 2024 /

This is probably the fastest I have ever read and written any single entry in my book review series. I am sitting here in the clinic with nothing to do besides kill time. These two Cantos comprised about 15 pages or so in my book. That means about an hour read and I might as well get started while it is fresh in my mind.

Sometimes, so much time has passed that I actually have to read summaries to refresh my memory of what actually happened. Some books I keep some notes about what I want to talk about as Friday rolls along. My day to day situation varies so widely that it has been hard to keep up with a consistent schedule or routine.

This level of heaven is Saturn, the seventh level of Paradise and the land of the contemplatives. For those of you that don’t equate such fancy words, it is the level of the thinker. In church terms, the thinkers are the monks. Maybe not all of them are monks but all monks are supposed to be thinkers (I think).

Remember too that the higher we climb, the more that the souls are supposed to be closer to God. Dante has two interactions in this Canto. One with a soul called Peter Damiano and the other with the Pope Benedict. They both kind of interplay together so let’s talk about Peter first.

In the Devine Comedy, there has been a battle between free will and predestination. For the most part, the talk has been about free will. It is that freedom that has allowed sin to grab hold of the characters we met in the Inferno and Purgatory. But now, we are starting to run into preordination. What Peter is saying is that it is God’s plan for what level of heaven you will remain eternally. There is not much that a person can do to change that.

When Dante meets Benedict, he is confirmed what Dante already knows and that is there is much wretchedness within the church at all levels. He says that God will eventually punish them when the time is right. Once again we have a theological dichotomy. If everything is preordained, how can God be displeased with the rampant sin and corruption within the church?

I guess that I believe in both as well. I am a believer that everything happens for a reason but I also believe that it matters what we do in that time. As a bible believer, the second the second coming (Revelations) will be the final reconciliation. It seems that I finally agree with Dante on something. But, I am also a Protestant Christian and the ideal of a vengeful or angry God is very Old Testament.

This is the new covenant. If you haven’t heard this language, Christianity differs from Judaism in that there is no intermediary between God and worshipper. No longer are sacrifices required to absolve sin. We can achieve eternal salvation by accepting Christ. So while God may have a final plan for our lives, We can surely help ourselves along. Otherwise, what would be the point?

To put a fine point on it, I think a loving god as I subscribe to has an intricate web of events. Each one effecting the other. I am primarily speaking about the duration on life and eventual death. What we choose to do in that time greatly influences our eternity. We never really comprehend how we affect other people as we move through life. To me, that is the predestination part.

End Your Programming Routine: Since I do not really subscribe Purgatory or levels in Heaven, this is just another week in a long line of things that don’t completely jive with me. But it is at least closer than some. Next week will be the longest remaining group of Cantos XXIII – XXVII and the eighth level. This is the level of the stars.

July 12, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XIX – XX

July 12, 2024 /

On this level of Paradise, we are on Jupiter. This is the level of the ‘Blessed Rulers’. Those would be the infamous David of biblical fame but also Constantine and Phillip to name a few of the most famous. Most of the interactions in this level are with a lighted eagle figure caused by the dancing of the figures radiating light around Dante.

Since this was a pretty short and easier read than previous weeks, I breezed through this. I don’t have to much to say other than one subject. I am going to get to that in a minute. Sometimes it is hard to separate what I wanted and what is with this book. I wanted this to be a deep philosophical and theological experience. What I got was a work of fiction. I need to be OK with that.

Now, I am getting to the point. Amongst the Blessed Rulers were two that did not belong. That would be the Roman Emperor Trajan and also someone called Ripheus. These two supposedly predate Christianity and therefore we should expect that they would be in Level one of Hell, like Virgil.

As the story goes in the book, Trajan realizes the error in his ways after he dies and so God sends him back to earth for a couple of days in order to proclaim himself a Christian. Mind you, this was all done in the BC time period. So he was a Christian before it even existed in order to land in Jupiter. Ripheus was saved by Trajan and so there are two pagans that somehow made it to Heaven.

As I have stated before, I don’t necessarily believe that there is one true way to Heaven. Clearly Jews have made it and there was definitely a pre-Christian path. But, to have two pagans? That is just too much. It is one thing to be consistent with theology and belief but completely another to just add random characters.

Supposedly, this is to illustrate that God is the ultimate decision maker in all situations. Of course I believe that. But then it calls into question one of the ultimate tenants of Christianity. I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). Both cannot be true and coexist with proper doctrine.

So, I rationalize this as fiction and a comedy. Like so much of the story, this is Dante’s take on the story with his personal vendettas and beliefs stirring the pot. With that, I go back to my opening, not quite what I was hoping for. In best form, this work could possibly stimulate those deeper discussions if you had a good command on such things. This is not a textbook.

End Your Programming Routine: Next week we will be on Saturn. That is Cantos XXI – XXII with another short week. As you can imagine, I am having a hard time drawing any meaningful conclusions with something as clearly skewed as this story. I don’t think perverted is an appropriate word here, but I think you get what I am saying. So, we will just keep moving forward to hopefully get to the end as soon as I can.

July 5, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XIV – XVIII

July 5, 2024 /

Mars is now the fifth level of paradise. Dante takes the path of the Roman world and Mars is home to the warriors of god. There is some talk about the knights or fighters of the Crusade era but most of the conversation is with one particular spirit named Cacciaguida.

As luck would have it, Cacciaguida is the great, great grandfather of Dante. It is pretty fortunate that Dante has become a special interest of God but even more so that his distant relative is one of the saviors of Florence and very pious. My research has not been able to substantiate this claim. But the truth is I didn’t look very hard either.

Since Dante serendipitously has this encounter, he gets a lesson in his family tree. Another advantage of heaven is being able to see the future. After Dane’s history lesson, he is informed about the fact that he is going to be exiled from Florence. This of course is very concerning and takes a couple of Canto’s for him to get over the news.

The ironic (or obvious) thing is that his exile has already occurred. So, this is a story that is written in the future about events that have already occurred in the current time. I don’t know that all that really mattered and surely most of the people reading or watching this would not have all of that knowledge. No suspended belief is really necessary from that standpoint.

Things have kind of run their course for me. I am ready to move on with this story and book. The story is so heavy and obscure that I am having a hard time keeping my interest. I find that when I start reading that my eyes become pretty heavy. I have to fight with all I have not to fall asleep. Each Canto is becoming a slog.

You all remember that this epic began in January. I am going to save my final analysis for a few weeks from now. But, I cant help to lay out where I am now. I would say that eight plus months is just too long to do something like this. I have already purchased three or four books in the meantime that I am looking forward to getting to. But, I have to put this one to bed.

From Dante’s perspective, I can see why the likes of Charlemagne or Roland is a hero. I have a lot more difficulty buying into that. History is history but it reminds me of the saying “the ends don’t justify the means”. The reality is, the acts of the Crusade is not that much different than teaching the Taliban a lesson. My own empire is just as complicit as the Holy Roman empire in the imperialism.

There is an argument to be made that true believers must put their money where their mouth is. Hence, for a Catholic king, there is only one true religion and all others are sinners or at least heretics to said religion. I don’t believe that. All monotheistic religions follow a similar core set of beliefs. I have a hard time believing that a good and righteous God would only favor western Europeans in the one true light. And so salvation depends on your birthright.

As a Christian my entire life, I do subscribe to the tenants of the religion. But, they are pretty bad when it comes to the edges of theology. As an example, when does turn the other cheek turn into abuse? Surely Jesus doesn’t mean love your neighbor as you are getting raped. Even the act of accepting we are sinners while we keep on sinning is a real dichotomy. I have found very little comfort when it comes to the transition points of the religion.

Canto XVIII is more on Jupiter than on Mars. I made a decision to cover the entire level even if it bled into the next. That means that next week is Canto XIX and XX. This will be the level of righteous rulers like David (of Goliath).

End Your Programming Routine: My end you programming recommendation is get out of your head. Just because we believe that we are anointed by God doesn’t mean that we are. We are fond of saying love the soldier, hate the war but we are turning a blind eye to our politicians. Ukraine, Russia, Israel and Iran are not worth fucking around to find out. We didn’t learn a thing in Afghanistan.

June 28, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto X – XIII

June 28, 2024 /

I think that we can all imagine stepping onto the moon. Possibly we could imagine going to Venus or Mars, but the sun? That is where we landed today on the fourth layer of Dante’s paradise.

I haven’t done the research but I find it interesting that when Dante went to the moon, he goes to great lengths to describe the ‘glassy’ surface. The topography of planet played heavily into the how the characters interreacted with Dante. As we go farther along in the journey, the more abstract the surroundings become.

There is barely a mention of being on the sun in four Cantos. When it is, it really is not clear where the characters really are. It is just the brilliance of the souls as a inference to the sun. In fact, the surface and interaction on each planet are more closely related to the Roman mythology than the are to the actual astronomy.

I know that this is written before the great scientific discoveries of the Renaissance. Dante’s theory about the planets and the sun rotating around the earth proves that they didn’t have all the data. It certainly predates anything but rudimentary optics. I suppose that it is fair to say that they just didn’t know much about the planets.

Not being Catholic, I am not well versed in many of the important figures. I have heard of some of the monastic orders, not well enough to name them all, let alone what the primary focus is about. Once again, this section is heavily influenced by the figures of Dante’s Catholic world.

The basic premise of this layer is Dante is met by one group. After they have made fun of one order, that order shows up to make fun of the former. I think this is part of the ‘divine comedy’ aspect of the work. I really didn’t get the jokes. Unlike a lot of this study, I at least recognized the overt attempt at comedy. For a lot of it, I suspect that you had to be there.

The first circle was led by Thomas Aquinas. There is a name that I have heard before. In fact, I have written a little bit in this series referencing him. Aquinas was a member of the Dominican order. Looking up their mission, they are focused on preaching, specifically against heresy. They use their spotlight to make fun of the Franciscan order.

Francis of Assisi was the founder of the Franciscan order. There focus was on a nomadic, evangelical mission. He and his group make fun of the Dominican order. Then, they get together an sing Dante and Beatrice off to Mars. If you are interested in Catholic politics, then this may be the level of Paradise for you.

I think what strikes me as a protestant is the cult of personality. I have no idea whether these people were creepers who happened to do something good or not. In fact, while I heavily disagree with the theology of the Catholic church, I won’t deny that the appearance of piety has my respect. I think that with all things a degree of critical thinking is necessary for goodness.

What I mean is that I am positive these orders have done many good things for the world. That being said, I highly suspect that they have been involved in some pretty bad things too. If we accept the fact that all men sin, that means even founders and followers do as well. Preaching, educating, helping the poor, trying to live like Jesus are all noble goals. I don’t foresee saking one approach over another is necessarily the end all be all.

That is not to say that I don’t respect the decision to join an order, all I said above applies. I just cannot concretely agree that one is better or worse than the other. We as believers need to be careful that we are not sucked into human hierarchy of better/worse and one right way.

End Your Programming Routine: Next week is one of the longer remaining sections. That would be Canto XIV – XVIII. Every since we have have been in Paradise, I just see technicolor weirdness. I guess my vision of eternity was always light, bright and serene. This seems manic and all over the place. It sure beats the alternative I guess but seems a little too surreal for me.

June 21, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto VIII – IX

June 21, 2024 /

Today, we are on Venus. In Roman mythology Venus is the goddess of love, beauty, fertility, victory and generally all those good things. So what are we going to hear about? Why all of those spirits that have love for the lord of course.

A funny story I guess. But these various characters that Dante meets have taken their turns with sin, as all men have. What I found extremely interesting is that punishment seems to be unevenly handed out. These characters admit to their sins which they attribute to making their exuberance for the lord that much stronger. This is like saying that ‘I am just a passionate person. Of course I murdered that person when I got angry. I just couldn’t help it, it is my being’. And by the same token, there is no real penalty as a result.

Whereas in the same book, certain figures could progress no further in heaven because they married against wishes when they were serving in the clergy. So approved sin is not penalized while unapproved sin has eternal consequences.

A lot of the commentary talks about the erotic love of god. I find this to be a little unholy personally. That being said, I heard a fascinating discussion a few months ago about the feminization of Christianity. This is playing a role in the ultimate decline of the church. While other major religions are focused on key tenants, Christianity has emphasized the concept of worship. Worship by it’s nature has a feminine appeal. Hence, men are turned off each generation and dwindling in participation.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is true. What I knew to be Agape or sort of spiritual love has become more of an perverted lust or love affair for some. That unhappy marriage has a new partner. Something new to worship and love and never lets you down. I think that this is much more typical in evangelical protestant denominations.

Relationship with god is a tricky thing. It requires something called faith. I have to believe that I am having one without becoming delusional about it. It is serious without being fanatical. I wouldn’t go as far as saying subdued though. We cannot deny or discount faith but rather be quietly confident and upfront about it. We have to trust the process without getting lost in it.

I actually didn’t realize that there were so many video analyses of the Devine Comedy. There are multiple series of the work in 100 days (Because there are 100 cantos). It seems like they were all published during the pandemic. This probably came out of the online only school movement. If I would have realized this, I probably would have linked to each canto every week.

End Your Programming Routine: Next week is the Sun. This is Cantos X – XIII. From what I have learned, we are about to go into some kind of new dimensional shift. I guess we will have to see when we get there. For now, we will just keep ticking boxes and collecting information. You probably get the sense of what I think about Venus.

June 14, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto V – VII

June 14, 2024 /

From the reviews I read, Mercury is considered the first level of Heaven. I am not sure what that actually means for the moon. It is on this level that we start to hear about all of the good stuff (I guess).

I am going to keep it fairly light today because I already think that I am going to have a problem in Paradise. Canto V starts off with a bang. This is the transition from the moon to Mercury. All of the souls are excited to greet the new arrivals. The primary protagonist is the former emperor Justinian.

There are a couple of notables this week. Canto VI is said to be the only chapter written in the voice of a single character. It is also stated that each of the three books in Canto VI are about politics. The symbolisms is that the three add up to 666. Said another way, politics are the Devil. I can get behind that.

We get to hear about how great the Roman Empire is and how the eagle represents God and all things are ordained with that line of thinking. The Roman Empire is the extension of Christianity etc. There is another debate or schooling of free will and the consequences thereof.

I guess that I have to say that I have never had this line of thought. That would be that there are levels to heaven just as there are levels to hell and purgatory. While the souls that are here have been deemed worthy to be at this level of heaven, it was their earthly deeds that limited how far they could go. So, while Justinian was a ‘good guy’ he did so for selfish reasons.

It also makes me wonder what the point of Purgatory really is. If you spend all this time atoning for sins only to come to a glass floor, there is a shadow of a doubt as to the validity of Purgatory further still to me. The next level is Venus which will be Cantos VIII and XIX next week.

End Your Programming Routine: Having never read this, I should have expected as much. Maybe heaven was going to be divided by interest or culture or something besides how good you are on earth. This kind of flies in the face of my theological beliefs. I always thought that salvation was a gift with no strings attached. We will have to see what the next steps look like.