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Issue 70 : Dante's Guide to Heaven and Hell

Originally published in 2001

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Table of Contents

Dante and the Divine Comedy: Did You Know?

What a famous painting suggests about Dante's life, legend, and legacy.
Dante and the Divine Comedy: From the Editors - How Not to Read Dante

American literary education absolutely mangles the Divine Comedy.

Elesha Coffman
A Polysemantic Country Song?

If you still can't grasp what Dante meant to say in the Comedy, this may (or may not) help.

Dante
The Rest of the Stories

Dante's other books further illuminate his medieval mindset and shed light on the Comedy.

Oscar Kuhns
Divine Imagination

By describing a pilgrimage through the realms of death, Dante shares his vision of how Christians should live.

Rolland Hein
I Still Don't Know How He Does It

Dorothy Sayers discovers Dante.

Dorothy Sayers
A Poet Without Honor

Banished from his hometown, Dante became lonely, bitter, and inspired.

Bonnie C. Harvey
Dante in Love

The poet's feelings for Beatrice far exceeded a childhood crush.

Charles Williams
A Cathedral of Ideas

From elements of many traditions, Dante fashioned a towering new theology.

Hans Urs von Balthasar
Dante's Turbulent World: Christian History Timeline

CH Timeline
The Root of All Kinds of Evil

The Inferno is crammed with greedy Florentines receiving their due.

Elesha Coffman
The Pilgrim's Way

The dream of reaching heaven by visiting holy sites inspired millions of medieval Christians—including Dante.

Jeanetta R. Chrystie
Dante's Guide to Heaven and Hell: The Gallery - Walk of Fame

Star sightings in the Comedy highlight Dante's religious and political views.
Goodness, Gracious(ness), Great Balls of Fire

Visions of eternity just aren't what they used to be.

Jeffrey Burton Russell
What About Purgatory?

The doctrinal grounding of Dante's mysterious mountain.

Dennis Martin
Dante's Guide to Heaven and Hell: Christian History Interview - Classics of Common Memory

Why Dante's medieval masterwork continues to thrive in translation.

Robert Pinsky
Dante and the Divine Comedy: Recommended Resources

Dante and the Divine Comedy

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Today in Christian History

October 4, 1582: Spanish mystic and founder of a reformed Carmelite order Teresa of Avila dies. A model of spiritual discipline, she experienced visions of Jesus, wrote several mystical books (including her autobiography), and possessed a genius for administration.

October 4, 1669: Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, known as the "painter of the soul" for his unsurpassed Christian art (including "The Return of the Prodigal Son," c. 1668), dies.

October 4, 1890: Catherine Booth, English "mother ...

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Issue 70 : Dante's Guide to Heaven and Hell

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