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1 - Theology and Poetry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2022

Denys Turner
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
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Summary

Dante’s Comedy is a work of theology, done by way of a fictional journey through Hell and Purgatory to Paradise. Did Dante really make that journey? Of course he did. The journey is made by way of the fictional narrative describing it, and this way of enacting a truth by way of its description shares something with the sacramental act that makes to be so that which it signifies, or perhaps better, in the sort of way that the interpretation of Scripture is part of the efficacy of the scriptural word. Dante needed poetry to record that journey, and the poetry was how he traveled. In this way his poetry is a lived interpretation of a Christian journey, and the journey recorded is the journey made.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Theology and Poetry
  • Denys Turner, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: Dante the Theologian
  • Online publication: 02 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009168687.003
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  • Theology and Poetry
  • Denys Turner, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: Dante the Theologian
  • Online publication: 02 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009168687.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Theology and Poetry
  • Denys Turner, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: Dante the Theologian
  • Online publication: 02 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009168687.003
Available formats
×