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How is one supposed to know what things will be like after death? This question has been asked in many different ways, but it always comes down to the same essential curiosity that drives man to form religion, to form ideas of higher powers or things outside the capacity of human existence. There are theories upon theories upon theories that have formed philosophies and religions all based on the human curiosity in this one topic: the afterlife. Some have even chosen to deny its existence at all. However, there are two explanations that have taken root in the world: the vivid and terrifying afterworlds created by Dante Alighieri and the deeper, non-physical world that Catholics believe they will one day join. The teachings of the Catholic Church and the descriptions in The Divine Comedy differ greatly in the images they provide of hell, purgatory, and heaven.

The first part of The Divine Comedy is the Inferno, which is a depiction of hell that is much different from the one provided by the Church. One of the biggest differences between the two is the matter of physical structure. Throughout Dante’s writing, he talks about walking around in hell, when he says things such as, “My Guide kept to the left, and I walked after him. So we moved on” (Alighieri, Ciardi 142). However, the church doesn’t believe such actions possible. Rather, she describes hell as a state of being, where souls are absent from their physical bodies (“Catholic Doctrine on Hell”). However, whether they believe it physical or not, they both believe in a sort of “limbo” for the souls who could not have known Christ. Dante describes limbo as housing the virtuous pagans, people who did not accept God, yet still did not sin (Alighieri, Ciardi). The ch...

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Although the opinions of the Church and Dante differ on their depictions of the nature of hell, purgatory, and heaven, both agree on the existence of a life after death. While many people choose to deny the existence of the afterlife in favor of believing in a consequence-free lifestyle in which they decide what is right or wrong for themselves, both Dante Alighieri and Catholics believe that their actions are not consequence free and that they will be held responsible for them at the end of their lives. They are willing to accept that they are sinners, but that there is hope in recognizing their faults. In realizing that one is not free of blame for his actions, he can strive to do actions that are free of blame. Once he is able to that, he is able to control his fate, whether it be fire, forgiveness, or fidelity.