In the final canto of Inferno, Dante confronts Dis, “la creatura ch’ebbe il bel sembiante” (XXXIV.18). In response, the poet declares: “Io non mori’ e non rimasi vivo; / pensa oggimai per te, s’hai fior d’ingegno, / qual io divenni, d’uno e d’altro privo.” (XXXIV.22-27) Beneath this apparently innocuous proclamation is a metaphysical “event” unique among Western letters, as the poet arrogates godly power and bestows on the pilgrim the experience of “existence” beyond the divine will. By this gracious gift of non-existence, the Pilgrim surpasses the mere corruption of Satan and his kingdom, and enters into a state of uncreation. Evidence of this unparalleled passage is found in the pilgrim’s absence of fear during his remaining time in hell.
Whether one inclines to fire or ice as the most prominent feature of the infernal landscape, there can be no doubt that the "dark doctrine" is currently hot. 1 Although for some time the Christian teaching on hell merited the sobriquet of the "dormant doctrine," the last quartercentury has seen it roused by defenders and dissenters. 2 For those who endorse the possibility of hell (even while hoping for its emptiness), the outright rejection or quiet neglect of the doctrine is not a suitable state of affairs. 3 C. S. Lewis observes: "There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than hell if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, especially, of our Lord's own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason." 4 Recent arguments for the theological necessity and logical coherency of eternal punishment have been mounted by Jerry Walls, 5
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