Dante Alighieri, a great Italian poet, is most noted for a journey, which he wrote of in his Divine Comedy series. In these works, Alighieri sends a fictional Dante through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The Inferno is a detailed description of Dante's journey through Hell. While on this journey, Dante witnesses the scourge of the damned through the use of all senses. He smells the foul odors, sees the horrifying sights, feels the heat, as well as the cold, and hears the overwhelming cries of all sinners. Ironically, the purpose of this journey is to expose Dante to Hell so that he will spend eternity in Heaven. Throughout this journey, we begin to realize that man is neither smart nor strong enough to face the hardships in life without the intervention of God. However, this divine intervention does not guarantee salvation. It is a choice made by man that does insure salvation. So, as seen in The Inferno, hell still exists and the chances of going there are real. A reader might wonder how God can allow this kind of suffering and pain. Dante succeeds in justifying the coexistence of God, who is omnipotent, just, and loving with a hell that is treacherous, disgust

God, however, being omnipotent and knowledgeable, knows the shortcomings of man. The promise of eternal paradise is not always enough to convert a man to Christianity, which leads to salvation. Therefore, God uses His wrath to instill fear into a man who has fallen onto the wrong path, such as Dante. Dante, the writer, reconciles this action with God's character in the plot of The Inferno. God has sent Dante through hell to show the consequences of the path he is on. The objective is for Dante to fear hell so much that he chooses salvation. In fact, the words cut in to stone above the gate leading to the inferno read, "I was raised here by divine omnipotence (42)." This means that God, having created Hell, uses it for His purposes. Examples of this are found throughout The Inferno as Dante begins to let his emotions take control of him and the reader sees the fear of hell, created by God, come out in him, as well. On some occasions he faints from astonishment. On separate occasions he weeps with sympathy, hides from fear, or becomes angry at certain situations. A particular instance is in Canto three. Dante is so overcome with terror that he faints. God's strategy is working because Dante states that even as he tells the story he breaks into a sweat and imagines the fear and amazement he felt (46). This is the advantage of such fear. Dante is determined not to return. Therefore, hell (something bad) is used for salvation (something good), which comes from God.

Dante alludes to the power of God as one of his recurring themes in The Inferno. Dante, the character, is a mere mortal. God placed him in the hands of Virgil, a great Roman poet who represents human reason within The Inferno. Although Dante has human reason as his guide, his mission cannot be completed without divine intervention. The power of God is demonstrated in Canto nine when a heavenly messenger is sent to open a gate that no one else can. However, the question still remains; how can such an omnipotent God allow this punishment in hell? God, like any father is demonstrating the concept of operant conditioning. He is punishing those who sin and rewarding those who have excepted God's grace and, therefore, are refraining from sin. The Inferno was written in accordance to orthodox Christianity, which is outlined in the Bible. The Bible states many times that evildoers will be punished. Many characteristics of

Some common words found in the essay are:
Canto Dante, Bible God, Inferno Dante, Heaven Throughout, Inferno God, Heaven Inferno, Bible Bible, Dante Dante, Divine Comedy, Alighieri Italian, inferno dante, hell dante, god allow, god omnipotent, dante hell, journey hell, dante's journey, love god, hell dante described, dante described, god omnipotent loving, sent dante, dante's journey hell, god sent dante,
Approximate Word count = 1629
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)