"From Mystic Rituals to Christian Liturgy: A History of Ascent, its Influence on Dante's Paradise and our own Lives."
Our common Christian goal is unity with God. This is also the goal of ascent. This project argues that Boethius’ The Consolation of Philosophy and Bonaventure’s Journey of the Mind into God prominently influence Dante’s articulation of ascent in his poem Paradise. Furthermore, as Christians, we ought to observe Dante’s spiritual ascension and strive to ascend as well. The project seeks to demonstrate that Dante was indeed influenced by Boethius and Bonaventure, and, somewhat consequently, Dante’s ascent reflects our own Christian pilgrimage.