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“DOES THY GOD O PRIEST TAKE SUCH VENGEANCE, AS THIS?” ERROR, SIN, ATTRIBUTION OF JUSTICE AND THE DOCTRINE OF FORGIVENESS OF SINS IN BLAKE’S THEOLOGY.
Abstract
In plate 141 For the Sexes - the Gates of Paradise, copy D, Blake by asking: “Does thy God O Priest take such vengeance, as this” refers to the story of Count Ugolino as it is described in Dante’s Divine Comedy - Inferno Canto XIII (33). The subject of Blake’s preoccupation is the conflict between the Devourer and the Prolific as it was developed in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell in 1789. The conflict between the adverse forces of life, good versus evil, formed вЂtwo different kind of philosophies’- as Yeats called them -two cultural systems; the one represented by Dante, the other by Blake where error, sin,justice and the doctrine of forgiveness of sins found a particular way of expression in eachtheology. On the other hand, the story of Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini has todo with Blake’s belief in вЂenergy unrestrained’ and вЂdesire gratified,’ which leads toParadise and Eternal Life. In the fallen reality, the world of Eden can be achieved by thesatisfaction of desire that brings about fulfilment and directs the gratified souls to eternalbliss. In these drawings it is obvious how Blake differentiated from the prejudice of theRoman tradition by expressing his own views on the matters. Blake’s sins are a subjectof forgiveness and not retribution as in Dante’s system of justice and classification ofoffences. Dante’s 13th century Divine Comedy and Blake’s 18th century theologicalsystem must be taken into consideration to realize their disagreement and differences.For Blake, divine justice is forgiveness of sins and not revenge, atonement and death.Blake accused Dante as representative of the Church whose hell is the religious hell(mundane judgement) and not God’s judgement (divine justice). For The Sexes THE GATES of PARADISE [Prologue] Mutual Forgiveness of each Vice Such are the Gates of Paradise2
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References1
] Edited by David V. Erdman. Commentary by Harold Bloom. The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake. Anchor Books, London, 1988. [2.] Bandy, Melanie. Mind Forg’d Manacles. The Evil in Blake and Shelley. University of Alabama Pr., 1981. [3.] J. G. Davies. The Theology of William Blake. Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1948. [4.] Helen C. White. The Mysticism of William Blake. New York Russel & Russel INC. 1964. [5.] W. B. Yeats. Ideas of Good and Evil. 1898. pp. 176-225. The Four Zoas and their Emanations.[6. ] Berger, Pierre. William Blake Poet and Mystic. London, Chapman & Hall, Ltd., 1914. [7. ] Kathleen Raine. William Blake. 156 Illustrations 28 in colour. Thames and Hudson. London, 1970.
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