hi Jasmine... as far as the book goes... its on my list of "I have to read that book!!" but, something always comes up to direct my reading elsewhere.... Augustine's Confessions is another one on that list... ah well... maybe someday....
Anyways.... I do know that when you read it you need to be aware of the Roman Catholic influence that is pervasive through the book, and that when he (Dante) speaks of Purgatory, you need to know that this is not a biblical concept at all, but one invented by Rome to keep it's members under the control of the church as it was the church that held the keys to life, and was not a simple belief in the sufficiency of Christ's work.... Rome taught that you could get your loved ones out of purgatory, or at least lessen their time there, by contributing money to the church... this act was called an "Indulgence" and was at least one of the reasons that was behind the beginning of the Protestant movement, though it was a bit of a side issue spinning off of Rome's many unbiblical ideas concerning the very gospel itself.... during that time the people had a sarcastic little rhyme that went "every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs"..... terrible manipulation by the Roman "church" to be sure.... anyway... without going further into what I take to be serious doctrinal defiencies in Rome, just be aware that the book was written by someone devoted to the Roman church and that while it may be an intersting allegroy, do not allow your beliefs about death, resurrection, the after-life etc, be formed by the reading of that book.... a classic allegory you could someday read that is doctrinally sound, IMHO, is John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress....
blessings,
Ken
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