Marking a pivot in the book’s argument, this chapter shifts from failures of vision to surprising forms of inclusion. It explores how Dante reimagines salvation beyond the visible boundaries of the Church. Figures such as Cato, Statius, Ripheus, and Trajan embody modes of inclusion that strain orthodox categories, while Dante’s engagement with Averroes highlights the theological tension surrounding immortality and individuation. The chapter situates Dante in dialogue with debates over Averroism, Thomistic critiques, and the rhetoric of resurrection. It focuses especially on the unique eschatological vision offered in Purgatorio 25, where Statius’ putative correction of Averroes underscores the importance of embodiment to personhood—a view that signals a willingness to take Averroes’ insights seriously without abandoning the Christian insistence on the possibility of individual immortality through resurrection. At the same time, the chapter highlights poetry as Dante’s chosen medium for exploring, testing, and rereading meaning, where interpretive openness becomes integral to salvation’s scope. Thus, by imagining non-Christians as recipients of grace, Dante redefines salvation as a poetics of individuation and interpretive inclusion that mirrors the unique eschatology articulated in Purgatorio 25. Faith, in this view, is not mere assent to doctrine but a lived orientation toward meaning, embodied existence, and creative self-manifestation.

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Faith and the Implicit Poetics of Salvation in the Divine Comedy

  • Jason Aleksander

摘要

Marking a pivot in the book’s argument, this chapter shifts from failures of vision to surprising forms of inclusion. It explores how Dante reimagines salvation beyond the visible boundaries of the Church. Figures such as Cato, Statius, Ripheus, and Trajan embody modes of inclusion that strain orthodox categories, while Dante’s engagement with Averroes highlights the theological tension surrounding immortality and individuation. The chapter situates Dante in dialogue with debates over Averroism, Thomistic critiques, and the rhetoric of resurrection. It focuses especially on the unique eschatological vision offered in Purgatorio 25, where Statius’ putative correction of Averroes underscores the importance of embodiment to personhood—a view that signals a willingness to take Averroes’ insights seriously without abandoning the Christian insistence on the possibility of individual immortality through resurrection. At the same time, the chapter highlights poetry as Dante’s chosen medium for exploring, testing, and rereading meaning, where interpretive openness becomes integral to salvation’s scope. Thus, by imagining non-Christians as recipients of grace, Dante redefines salvation as a poetics of individuation and interpretive inclusion that mirrors the unique eschatology articulated in Purgatorio 25. Faith, in this view, is not mere assent to doctrine but a lived orientation toward meaning, embodied existence, and creative self-manifestation.