The Reformed Doctrine of Dante

I’ve been reading The Divine Comedy. It’s not as funny as I expected, but it’s been a fascinating voyage so far. We are currently ascending Mount Purgatory. Although Dante was devoutly Roman Catholic, I think he had that Reformer dog in him. For instance, he does not hesitate to place popes in the Inferno. Even Luther could dig that.

But what about purgatory? Dante believed the fiction that suffering after death awaits those who are alive in Christ. Perish the thought! Praise the Lord that today—if today be my day to die—that I too shall be in Paradise with him who died and rose again for me.

Having said that, I think Dante’s Mount may be climbed with profit by those who believe and know the truth. The truth in this case is that the present life, not the life to come, is where we work out our salvation with fear and trembling and unalive our sins. It is here and now where we wage war by the power of the Truth. Consider, then, this gospel gem Dante speaks to weary pilgrims along the way:

May grace quickly dissipate the froth of your conscience in order that the stream of the mind may descend clearly thorough it.

When our conscience is disturbed, our thinking is muddled like troubled waters. There can be misty seasons of wrestling with sin and temptation for the believer. But let’s remember that it is God’s grace, and his grace alone, which cleanses our conscience and sets our mind at liberty. Let’s draw from the wells of salvation with joy, always drinking the sweet waters that help us to see clearly on our way Home.