08-04-2025, 08:58 PM
(08-04-2025, 03:32 PM)richard Wrote: Indeed. It is a very complex issue; who decides how to interpret Scripture. There needs to be an authority on it. And even if the Church has gone through periods of straying in the past (e.g. Boniface VIII), they still hold the authority, absolutely. Not over the spiritual realities themselves, but our "best" understanding of it.
If one might see or have ideas of other kinds of spiritual wisdom in the stories, it will thus be a private "maybe". But also; if/when the institutional Church is aligned - everything fits as it should. The institution and the community of aligned and connected souls is one and the same thing. And this is also Dante's overall point: the corrupted Church of his time needed to be healed, not abandonded.
I wonder how would Dante view the situation now? My bet is that he would be more pleased with the Pope, but less with our ruling elites. As a fervent proponent of separation of Church and State, would he be happy with the outcome or would he change his mind in some areas?