Deciding the accuracy of the order of sin in Dante’s Inferno, was not easy for me to initially question. Without much familiarity of Christian’s thought on sin, other than not to do them, I decided to start my analysis of Dante’s order of sin from the top. I agree with the placement of Limbo as being the first circle of Hell because the victims had no knowledge of God. My one question for this circle is if not knowing makes one guilty or innocent? Because this question seemed to philosophical and without any definite answer, I decided to deduce an answer from the placement Dante has given these souls. Being still placed in Hell, they are not innocent, but they also deserve no punishment because they chose a virtue path despite not accepting God.
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Dante places those involved in romances and love affairs such as Guinevere and Lancelot, but my understanding of lust has a bit more perversion than such romances. How severe of an offense is lust? I looked to Philip Riley’s book A lust for Virtue because it provides the opinions of many significant figures during a Catholic Reformation in the 17th century. Bishop Jaques-Benigne Bossuet states, “Fleshly concupiscence of the flesh led to gluttony and drunkenness that changed people into ‘furious beasts.’ Lust, another dimension of concupiscence defiled the body corrupted the soul, and ensured dishonesty among people.” I gather this to mean that Lust is at least as bad as gluttony, if not worse. The way he phrases Lust as ‘another dimension’ sounds like Dante’s separate levels of Hell. To affirm that Lust is thought more offense, another writer on Christian virtues, Jean-Jacques Olier insists that, “Lust and Gluttony were more insidious than pride or avarice.” I synonymized avarice to Dante’s greed, but could not find a suitable equivalent for
Dante places those involved in romances and love affairs such as Guinevere and Lancelot, but my understanding of lust has a bit more perversion than such romances. How severe of an offense is lust? I looked to Philip Riley’s book A lust for Virtue because it provides the opinions of many significant figures during a Catholic Reformation in the 17th century. Bishop Jaques-Benigne Bossuet states, “Fleshly concupiscence of the flesh led to gluttony and drunkenness that changed people into ‘furious beasts.’ Lust, another dimension of concupiscence defiled the body corrupted the soul, and ensured dishonesty among people.” I gather this to mean that Lust is at least as bad as gluttony, if not worse. The way he phrases Lust as ‘another dimension’ sounds like Dante’s separate levels of Hell. To affirm that Lust is thought more offense, another writer on Christian virtues, Jean-Jacques Olier insists that, “Lust and Gluttony were more insidious than pride or avarice.” I synonymized avarice to Dante’s greed, but could not find a suitable equivalent for