Dante, spokesman in his Christian day, writes a guidebook for Hell and, in doing so, questions his own rocky past and his chances for Hell, for Heaven.
Dante, a Christian poet living during a Christian age, sets out to write a poem about his fictionalized version of Hell. I believe Dante's initial intent, beyond poetic creativity, is to be an instructional wake-up call to the misbehaving Christians of his day. As his horrors unfold, Dante finds himself faced with his own standards of living. Dante wonders if he satisfies the Christian doctrine and, if he does not, is he in danger of being punished in Hell (his own version) after death.
What is the standard for Heaven - goodness?.
The Ten Commandments are "religious and moral requirements of Jews given to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai universal principles" (Cambridge Encyclopedia 1053).
According to the Holy Bible, the Ten Commandments are:.
1) There is only one God.
2) There are no substitutes.
3) Misuse of God's name is prohibited.
4) Sabbath must be observed.
5) Parents" must be honored obeyed.
6) One cannot commit murder.
7) One cannot commit adultery.
8) One cannot steal.
9) One cannot lie.
10) One cannot covet neighbors" goods.
(Simplified version).
(The New American Standard Bible, Exodus 20, Pg 71).
Sin, " a religious term signifying purposeful disobedience to the known will of God or an action offensive to God emphasis is upon human responsibility for sin, and this is carried over into Christian doctrine, where it is joined with the idea of the inevitability of sin in the concept of the original sin" (Cambridge Encyclopedia 982). .
Original Sin is "the state of sin that according to Christian theology characterizes all human beings as a result of Adam's Fall" (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 1289). Man has a choice - to do good or to do evil.
Similar to Dickens" Scrooge in the Christmas Carol, Dante inadvertently designs his own wake-up call.