Theology Update for the Week of August 17

Dear friends in Christ

On Sunday, August 17, at 10am (repeated the following Thursday at 12:40pm) I will look at Song of Songs from the middle of chapter 2 through chapter 3. Chapter 3 is interesting for the way the “overt” stories don’t make sense until one turns to theological allegory. When we read “cloud of smoke” for instance, whatever that might mean for the bride (?) in procession, it certainly resonates with the Lord going before his people in the Exodus as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. But first, we will look at the lovely final verses of chapter 2 with its ecstatic “My beloved is mine and I am his.”

Newcomers welcome every week. The Sunday class is on the 5th floor, Thursday on the 2nd.

The end of Hell: that’s where the Divine Comedy seminar is going on Monday, August 18, down to the bottom of the pit. As I’ve been re-reading the text the past week, I have found again what lovely poetry Dante uses, with everyday images, and what intense stories he is able to convey. Again, for those of you who are reading it, I urge you not to get stuck in the scholarly apparatus, but use it only lightly and occasionally, with your principal focus on the text. There is a lot of wisdom there for all of us to gather, even if we can’t keep straight the Republicans, the Democrats, the Whigs, the various militias–oh, sorry, I meant those other guys. But you see the point? Dante wrote for ordinary people in ordinary language, and we can learn from him without becoming experts. I look forward to our conversation: on Inferno cantos 18-34, Monday in Andrew Hall, from 6:15 to 7:45pm.

… One bit of Dante-ish wisdom. Evil is expert in logic, but it cannot know what is true, because it cannot love. (cf Inferno 27.118ff)

Peace