Читать книгу Gesammelte Aufsätze zur romanischen Philologie – Studienausgabe. Herausgegeben und ergänzt um Aufsätze, Primärbibliographie und Nachwort von Matthias Bormuth und Martin Vialon онлайн

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DanteDante’s position is quite different. The Christian God is not only the ruler who governs the universe, he is also the sole source and the sole arbiter of justice. Therefore, whoever advocates a cause on earth, has to present it as the will of God. Now, God has disclosed his will; his revelation, linked through the Incarnation to human history, involves a providential plan of this history. But the revelation – the Holy Scriptures as well as earthly events taken as expressions of Divine Providence – may be interpreted in many different ways, especially if practical issues are at stake. The ambiguity of God’s revelation creates an uncertainty even greater than that facing DemosthenesDemosthenes and his contemporaries. Their criterion (i. e. their conscience as citizens of a polis) has lost its decisive authority; and the new criterion, God’s will, is inscrutable. Demosthenes’ argument, that one must not judge by the event, has not lost its strength. The argument stands, only its basis has changed. God does not reveal his decision on a particular earthly issue by bestowing victory upon the righteous. The victory of the righteous will be manifest only at the last judgment. On earth, evil will always play its part, and will very often prevail, since it has an essential function in the drama of human redemption.