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Canto 23
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Paradiso, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Earthly and Heavenly Justice
Creation and God’s Providence
God’s Character and Will
Vision, Knowledge, and the Pursuit of God
Language and the Ineffable
Summary
Analysis
Beatrice addresses her fellow souls in Heaven, asking them to allow Dante to taste a morsel of their joy. One soul flames forth joyously and circles Beatrice, singing an impossibly beautiful song. This soul—St. Peter—says that Beatrice has prayed long and ardently for this very moment. Beatrice tells St. Peter to quiz Dante in any aspect of faith, hope, and love—starting with faith, since it’s by means of faith that this realm is attained. Dante gathers his thoughts for the coming test.
According to the teachings of Thomas Aquinas (which Dante faithfully follows throughout the Divine Comedy), a soul needs to possess faith, hope, and love before it can attain Heaven. These three things were known to medieval Catholic theology as the “theological virtues,” which were only made possible through the grace of God’s revelation. It’s fitting that Beatrice, the sign of revelation, invites St. Peter—himself the head of the Church—to quiz Dante in these matters.
Themes
St. Peter asks Dante, “What is this faith?” Beatrice gives Dante an encouraging look, and Dante duly quotes St. Paul, saying that faith is “substantial to the things we hope, / the evidence of things we do not see.” Peter asks Dante to distinguish between “substance” and “evidence,” and Dante does so, drawing a distinction between mystery and argument. Peter further asks Dante where he gets this faith from, and Dante says he gets it from the Holy Spirit via the Scriptures.
Beatrice’s strengthening presence symbolizes the revelation of the Bible, which Dante quotes as the basis for his understanding of faith, starting with the Book of Hebrews. Dante further distinguishes between the substance that supernatural faith is grounded on and the theological argument that articulates this faith. This is a complex argument that shows Dante the author’s background in medieval theology.
Themes
St. Peter approves all that Dante has said thus far, but asks him, finally, to say what he believes and to explain who first gave him this faith. Dante states his belief in “one true God” whose love “moves all the spheres,” as well as in the Holy Trinity—these beliefs being the basis for his faith as a whole, and all of them deriving from the authors of the Scriptures. (He also notes that belief in the true God has an additional basis in metaphysics.) St. Peter’s light, singing, circles Dante three times in joyous approval.
Here, Dante articulates the chief articles of his faith. Although Dante has encountered things in Heaven that transcend language, he maintains that his beliefs are firm and can be expressed and even proven on the basis of the Scriptures and the natural world. (Aristotle, whom Aquinas drew from, believed that metaphysical proofs for God as the “unmoved Mover” were possible.)
Themes
