我们为什么要学习 但丁
By Dr. 布莱恩T. 凯利(88)
Note: The following remarks are adapted from Dean 布莱恩T. Kelly’s report to the Board of Governors at its May 13 meeting. 它们是人类的一部分 正在进行的一系列会谈 其中博士. 凯利解释了为什么学院在课程中包括某些作家.
In the early cantos of the 地狱, 但丁 suggests that he is one of the six greatest poets of all time. 这听起来可能有点自大，但很多人会认为他在这一点上太谦虚了.
The Italians know him simply as “the poet.” T.S. Eliot lays down the bold claim that “但丁 and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them; there is no third,” and further that 但丁 is “a model for all poets.” It is the assessment of many that the 神曲 is the most magnificent poem ever written. Eliot asserts that the final canto of the 天堂 “is the highest point that poetry has ever reached or ever can reach.”
还有哪个诗人既是教皇通谕的主题又是另一个教皇通谕的灵感来源? Indeed, in 1921 Pope Benedict the XV issued 在《BG电子》中, devoted exclusively to praising the great Florentine, 本笃十六世曾说但丁启发了他创作他的第一份通谕, 《BG电子官网》，BG电子爱情.
If 但丁 had never written his masterpiece, the 神曲, he would still be considered a great lyric poet. 他早期的 《新生 是令人愉快的. 这本薄薄的书收录了早期游吟诗人风格的宫廷情诗, focusing on a recently deceased young lady, 比阿特丽斯, 他的美丽, 格蕾丝, and virtue had pierced 但丁’s heart. 但丁对比阿特丽斯的爱让很多人感到困惑，但这是他几乎所有作品的核心. It is not a lustful desire but a purifying admiration. When 但丁 strays from the path of wisdom and virtue, he sees this as a departure from his idealized love of 比阿特丽斯. 他对她的美丽和美德的承诺是通往神圣的美丽和高贵的一种桥梁.
他对比阿特丽斯的爱和对自己妻子的爱与承诺之间并没有冲突, 吉玛. You can see that this love can be very difficult to grasp, 但作为天主教徒，我们有优势，因为我们对玛利亚的忠诚就是这种爱, a love that calls us to cling to her Son, 道成肉身.
神曲
Indeed, Ralph McInerny, in his final book, 但丁 and the Blessed Virgin, argues that “Mary is the key to 但丁.” We see these loves intertwined in the beginning of the 地狱, when 但丁 has lost his way and Mary, through St. Lucy, sends 比阿特丽斯 to call 但丁 back to the path of righteousness. 为了更有效地做到这一点，但丁必须穿越并体验地狱, 然后是炼狱, 最后是天堂. 在这里，他将亲眼看到人类的选择对地球的影响，并向被诅咒的人和选民提出问题.
这显然给富有想象力的诗人和讲故事的人提供了很好的素材, and he draws on the length and breadth of Scripture, pagan and Christian literature, 神学, 哲学, 历史, 和他自己的时代. 在地狱里我们遇到了犹大, 该亚法, 布鲁图和卡修斯, 奥德修斯, 默罕默德, 美杜莎和牛头怪, numerous wicked popes and some of 但丁’s own friends and relatives. We also find a number of the authors we read at the College, 包括亚里士多德, but these are in the relatively mild Limbo.
As 但丁 travels through Purgatory and eventually Heaven, 他就洁净了自己的罪，对神的智慧有了更深的认识. 他向最伟大的圣徒询问神学问题，最终瞥见了三位一体的神性. There is a sweet episode in which St. Bonaventure, the great Franciscan, sings the praises of St. 多米尼克和圣. 托马斯·阿奎那 sings the praises of St. 亚西西的弗朗西斯. In Heaven there is no longer any contention between these great orders.
很难用一种恰当的方式来描绘这首诗的深度和丰富性. Think about what a great painting can capture in a moment, 可以说. 想想一首美丽的诗可以在二三十行之内完成什么. 然后想想这位有史以来最伟大的诗人在14233行诗中写出了什么. In the sophomore seminar we spend six weeks reading the 神曲. 我认为这或多或少是显而易见的，这项工作需要我们付出时间和精力.
我想指出两点让我们特别喜欢但丁的作品也是世人的必读之作首先, 但丁’s education and second, 他根深蒂固的天主教信仰.
诗人的学问……
第一个, 但丁的来生之旅是非常引人注目的因为它展示了一个坚实的人文学科的形成, in 哲学 and the sciences, and in all of these as ordered to 神学. 但丁 is a liberally educated man, 他的诗歌融合了理性和争论，但没有放弃诗歌的基本目的，即感动和净化情感.
As a young man 但丁 proved skillful as a poet, finding his great theme of love and his muse, 比阿特丽斯. But he recognized his inadequate formation; he could not do justice to this noble theme. He had already studied the best poets, 但是，如果他要创作出一部具有深刻深度和智慧的史诗，他需要知道的更多. In the midst of an explosive political career, 但丁花时间去追求13世纪晚期的广博学识. He read Aquinas and Bonaventure, 奥古斯丁和波伊提乌, 亚里士多德和柏拉图, 阿威罗伊和阿维森纳, and even lesser figures like Roger Bacon and Siger of Brabant. 换句话说，但丁回到学校接受良好的自由教育.
多年来，我们从许多学生那里听到了这个故事的不同版本. 有时, even with advanced degrees in hand, 他们已经意识到，为了发挥自己的潜力和使命，他们需要一种解放的教育. 他们需要那种能帮助他们在通往智慧的道路上有一个良好开端的教养. And the power of this education is on display in the 神曲. This work is a strong argument for the real value of liberal education.
以及诗人的信仰
I also wanted to talk about 但丁’s Catholicism. Here I will just look to 在《BG电子》中教皇本笃十五世(Pope Benedict XV)为纪念但丁逝世六百年而发布的通谕. 圣父在他的赞美中热情洋溢:“在许多著名的天才中，天主教信仰可以夸耀……文明和宗教永远欠他们的债。, highest stands the name of 但丁.” He goes on to speak of the 神曲 是“对我们这个时代的人的教导”和“天主教教导的宝藏”.”
How is it that 但丁 can be said to teach modern man? This poem is an enormously great and attractive work of art. 但是，如果不以某种方式对它所体现的世界观产生共鸣，就无法阅读和品味它. And 但丁’s worldview is thoroughly Catholic. Even the geography and arrangement of Heaven, 地狱, 和《BG电子》反映了他在丰富的神学基础上培养出来的彻底的天主教思想, intellectual tradition of the Church. 对于一个不信教的人来说，要适应这个世界是一个相当大的挑战 神曲. 但是，当不信的心灵调整时，它不能不对信仰的真理稍微开放一点. In coming to love and appreciate the beauty of the poem, the reader is in some small way initiated into the mysteries.
Pope Benedict XV insists that this is a matter of experience. 他说, “we know now too how … many who were far from … Jesus Christ, and studied with affection the 神曲, 他们以崇拜天主教信仰的真理开始，以热情地投入教会的怀抱结束.”
So 但丁’s great book is a wonderful apologetic; by its beauty and clarity and total commitment it invites nonbelievers to come home. Pope Benedict XV ends this wonderful encyclical by speaking, 可以说, 对我们来说, “你, 亲爱的孩子们, whose lot it is to promote learning under the Magisterium of the Church,(这就是我们!我们毫不犹豫地称这位高贵的诗人为基督教思想中最雄辩的歌者. 你从他身上学到的好处越多，你的文化就会越高, irradiated by the splendors of truth, 你对天主教信仰的忠诚就越强烈，越自发.”