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From: Cheryl Laudadio
Date: 11/1/99
Time: 2:51:29 PM
Remote Name: 63.10.128.110
The fraternal debate regarding the poverty of Christ is just a mask for the real issues at hand. The Gospels are a perfect model for Eco to use: the "mystery of faith" has and always will spark debate over its interpretations. William tells Adso that both sides can be affirmed and one "will never be able to establish on the basis of the Gospels whether, and to what extent, Christ considered as his property the tunic he wore.....but the question is not whether Christ was poor: it is whether the church must be poor. And 'poor' does not so much mean owning a palace or not; it means, rather, keeping or renouncing the right to legislate on earthly matters." Thus, the debate should not be taken for its literal meaning of poverty but rather for its root which is the distribution and exercising of power.