John Cowan wrote:
> > (2) My beliefs about forgiveness and punishment. For one thing, I
believe
> > that the idea of 'deserving' punishment is a human invention and not
> > a divine one.
>
> As I noted, Purgatory is not a place of punishment, conceived as an act
> of power imposed on an unwilling soul. Souls in Purgatory are there
> because, in the last analysis, they want to be.
Hehe, yesterday I had an oral test about Dante's Purgatorio, and I said 'Qui
i dannati...' (Here the punished ones...). The prof stared at me with an
awful face and immediately corrected me!
Luca
> Even Hell, considered as a place of punishment, is primarily the
> punishment of separation from everything divine.
> Disclaimer: I'm an agnostic.
>
> --
> John Cowan cowan@ccil.org
> One art/there is/no less/no more/All things/to do/with sparks/galore
> --Douglas Hofstadter
>