I think this can be understood as an ancient problem in a new guise. It
extends back beyond Gregory the Great on the Emperor Trajan, and forward to
baptism of the dead in the Mormon faith. In between comes Dante on
Virgil--i.e., Beatrice's initial promise to speak, in Virgil's behalf, to
the powers that be: as someone must have done for Riphaeus in the Paradiso.
On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:24:40 -0500
James Broaddus <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> In my belated attempt to acquaint myself with something of sixteenth
>century
> English attitudes toward Catholicism, I have run across brief references
>to
> those who, having lived in former times, were not exposed to the newly
> recovered truths and were necessarily deluded by the false. My memory is
> that the feeling was that some accommodation would be made so that those
> departed fathers, mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers would not suffer
> for beliefs they had grown up with.
>
>
>
> Could someone refer me to such references?
>
>
>
> Jim Broaddus
>
> --
> Retired, Ind. State.Univ.
> 2487 KY 3245
> Brodhead, KY 40409
[log in to unmask]
James Nohrnberg
Dept. of English, Bryan Hall 219
Univ. of Virginia
P.O Box 400121
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4121
|