Inferno, Canto 20 with Dr. Frederic Putnam

[@pow309]

Blessedly clear. I think I got so caught trying to figure out all the classical references and the extended speech about Mantua that I lost sight of the bigger picture. This analysis was a perfect refocus on the important points.

[@fredericputnam9066]

Thanks! And thanks be to God for all his mercies.

[@NiallMor]

"Those whose fraud consisted of telling are damned never to speak throughout eternity." That is a terrifying thought.

[@fredericputnam9066]

Yes, horrific, Neil.

[@newtnewton3348]

Thank you king 🙏

[@treborketorm]

Dr. Putnam, I found your presentation to be very moving, "Because the hour of one's death is appointed by God and because God alone knows the human heart and because God alone knows the beginning to the end"..."the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Brilliant!

[@fredericputnam9066]

Thanks, Bob; and thanks be to God!

[@raelynearnest3176]

“Sandwiched between heaven (Canto 19) and earth (Canto 21),” the clarity of the explanation made this canto fit like a puzzle piece.

[@fredericputnam9066]

Thank you, Raelyn; thanks be to God!

[@matthewhunt7666]

Thank you Dr Putnam for this clear and relevant exposition, linking to the beginning and end of the Bible.

[@lorimorrison6539]

I loved your teaching here so much! Thank you!!!

[@fredericputnam9066]

Thank you, Lori. And thanks be to God!

[@alexdelvento1273]

An especially well done Canto in my opinion

[@elizabethbrink3761]

Excellent, thank you!

[@fredericputnam9066]

Thank you, Elizabeth; thanks be to God!

[@denisebraganza]

Sir, your explanation is so good. I could listen to you forever

[@Gustolfo]

Wonderful.

[@fredericputnam9066]

Thanks, Gustavo. And thanks be to God!

[@GannWM]

Tiresias, the seer was changed from male to female after he struck a pair of coupling snakes and then 7 years later found another pair of coupling snakes struck them and changed back to male. The entwined snakes are the caduceus the symbol of medicine. That's actually some pretty good divination.

[@bakebr]

And to think that through the advancements on medicine anyone can supposedly undergo sex reassignment and transition these days. Nothing new under the sun!

[@xieouyang1341]

Really good explanation of the canto. Thank You!

[@fredericputnam9066]

Thanks, Xie; thanks be to God!

[@Pollyanna99]

Was Manto, upon whose "bones" Mantua was founded, not also a magician/sorcerer?

[@patcamerino5456]

Canto 20: Only God knows the future. Human attempts - by means of fortune telling through divining entrails, lightning, flights of birds, or the stars, themselves - are sinful, because they demonstrate a lack of trust in God’s goodness, that the plan He has made for mankind is not the best one possible. The contrapasso for human attempts to look into the future results in their punishment of having their heads twisted backwards as they slowly move in the direction their feet continue to point. They cannot see where they are going, only where they have been - like riding backwards on a train. Their tears drench their buttocks; their twisted vocal cords can make no sound. Virgil chastises Dante for showing pity towards these sinners. Since God’s compassionate judgement must be just, only God is permitted to show mercy. This Hebrew concept of Chesed becomes Eleos in Greek and Misericordia in Latin - translated by both “mercy” and “pity,” although there is a different connotation for each English word. The sinners of the Fourth Bolgia did not trust God; they desired to be able to change His plans, should they deem them unacceptable. Modern science exhibits the same desire when it uses supercomputers to predict outcomes which humanity wants to control. Perhaps in some future time, sinners found in this bolgia will have their human heads replaced by flat-screens, with no images, only blackness.

[@fredericputnam9066]

Thanks for the clarification, Pat. A frightening conclusion indeed.

[@andrewlyons9741]

cool video ur cute also