i should really get a better way of writing down my end o day thoughts.

last night i had two comparisons - and i think it involved the reading of II Samuel 23 (David's last words) to something else I'm reading, by way of similarity, and what interested me in the two.

i also vaguely recollect an argument in my head over evangelical and papist perspectives on the element of purgation in salvation. because i'm reading Dante again, and this stuff shakes out every time i go through this.

ah - now it comes back. silly human brains! wondered if the negative aspect of purgation/transformation - a la Romanism's Purgatory doctrine - is the flip side of the Orthodox point of view on theosis - which i vaguely recall from some time ago - and its emphasis on transformation. if the differences (besides papists positing Purgatory as a separate metaphysical 'space' by fiat) are typically matters of emphasis, it would mean that this subtheme of salvation is an across-the-board inheritance from the early church.

I mean, I can buy Dante's version of Purgatory, almost. But that's always the problem with good ideas in the hands of the brilliant: In the hands of the genius, they work; once out of the bottle, though, they're dangerous. Sort of like stuntmen, or trick shooters. Sure, it's one thing to have Penn and Teller tossing long shiny knives at you across the stage, but do you really want your Uncle Joe Sixpack, or Aunt Mary Soccermom frowning at the machetes and guessing their balance points while you twist in the wind? Doing theology out of your own head is rather like that, I think. Sure, you can get away with it -- if you're good, and circumstances favour you. But you're a one-off, a one-shot. No repeats. Books might be a bit like instant replay, with slo-mo and zooms, but live performance... Well, it's history.