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"Lines which circles do contain": circles, the cross, and Donne's dialectic scheme of salvation. (John Donne)

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From: Papers on Language & Literature
Date: 19940322
Author:Fischler, Alan

The works of John Donne reveal the 17th century writer's dialectic scheme of salvation. Donne envisioned three circles as representing the world's of humanity, God and sin. Sin was in the middle, surrounded by humanity, with God on the outside. The cross of Christ, when drawn upon these circles, represents the means by which humanity still has contact with both God's world and the world of sin. Following the cross from its middle, man's fall, decay, recomposition and ultimate oneness with God can be accounted for.

The vast importance attached to the figure of the circle in the theological ...

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