Paradiso, Lines XX.94-99
Regnum cœlorum suffereth violence From fervent love, and from living hope That overcometh the Divine volition; Not in the guise that man o’ercometh man, But conquers because it will be conquered, And conquered conquers by benignity. Bondanella Commentary: The kingdom of heaven suffers violent assault (Matthew 11:12). Dante cites the line partially in Latin and partially in Italian, just as Longfellow’s translation combines Latin and English. [...] Further on, the passage makes it clear that the kingdom of heaven endures the assault of love or of hope, either of which has the power to overcome God’s will, and His will allows itself to be conquered because of God’s beneficence. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m going to compare the above, which may sound shocking to someone who believes in the Aristotelian notion of an unchanging God, to what Louis Marie de Montfort says about the relationship between Jesus and Mary; namely, God gladly obeys and submits to the prayers and wishes of the Virgin Mary, because these prayers and wishes are themselves springing from a place of complete obedience and submission to God. It is because Mary is so integrated in her union with God, is so conformed to the role He has called her to, that He answers her prayers as though her very words were commandments. Could Dante, perhaps, be arguing the same thing here? He does say, after all, that this overcoming of the Divine volition is “not in the guise that man o’vercometh man,” after all. Does God lovingly relent to the wills of His creations when those wills are seeking something that is inherently rooted in God and His holiness? That God “gives way” to fervent love and living hope specifically because those things are what He wills? I can’t help but be reminded of Genesis 18, where God relents to Abraham’s requests for mercy on the city of Sodom. And also, the Shi‘a concept of badā’, an act of revelation after concealment, where God acts in a way that is contrary to what they were expecting, which may subjectively seem as though God is changing His mind.