Dr. Junius Johnson

And I think I agree with you.

I think that's what Dante's on about.

It's not about becoming other than what we are.

It's about breaking through the glass ceiling of what we always thought it could mean to be human, which is really less of a transhumanism than it is a true humanism, right?

But it requires a radical reorientation from the humanity that we've always known.

Yeah, and Dante's biggest theological influences are Aquinas and Bonaventure.

And both of them, when you look at their Christology, it's a very souped-up humanity that Jesus has.

Aquinas says that the human nature of Christ, his human mind and human soul, have the fullness of beatific vision from the moment of conception.

And then it just gets even more souped up from there.

And so he's got a lot of room to grow what it means to be human and what excellencies are possible for humans beyond what the modern conception generally allows for.

Yeah, I would say that it's actually – well, and this is a bit like what we talked about with Purgatorio, right?

That it's – the goal is to get to the glorified humanity that we had never seen except for the foretaste we got in the resurrected Christ.

But we have to pass through the prelapsarian humanity to get there.

Right.

And I think that's kind of what you'll see the Pilgrim on as he's going through this journey.

He's more like Adam perhaps in this first sphere of the moon, but he will have greatly exceeded Adam by the time he ascends to the Prima Mobile.

Yeah, that's right.

Well, one of the things that comes up a lot when I'm teaching this text, especially to Protestant students, is the question of hierarchy and the idea that some people deserve more glory than others.

And that doesn't sit well with people.

It ought to have come up in Inferno, right?