Do you think Hell has nine levels, each one worse than the previous? Do you think that Hell is so hot it can burn your skin right off your body? Do you think that God's punishment will fit the sins we commit? If so, you think that because of Dante, not the Bible. Maybe the Hell you do (or don't) believe in is the one the Renaissance literary master Dante Alighieri described in the Inferno section of his epic poem The Divine Comedy. This is the Hell of eternal damnation that most of us were raised to fear, the place where, we are told by Dante, "Abandon all hope, you who enter here." But it turns out that Dante's vision of Hell is not based very much on the Hebrew or the Christian Scriptures but on an amalgam of sources from Greek and Roman philosophy to Medieval morality plays to Islam's Qu'ranall stitched together by an accomplished artist to scare the bejesus out of all of us. Allow this book to help you reflect on what you believe about evil and what happens to bad people and just how merciful your God might be.
About the Author
Jon M. Sweeney is an independent scholar and award-winning author. His books have been translated into many languages.
He's a popular interpreter of the life and work of Francis of Assisi, and author of more than 40 books including "St. Francis of Assisi" with a foreword by Richard Rohr, and "The Complete Francis of Assisi" used by Third Order Franciscans. HBO optioned the film rights to Sweeney's book on the medieval Pope Celestine V, "The Pope Who Quit."
In 2023, Jon published "Sit in the Sun: And Other Lessons in the Spiritual Wisdom of Cats," and "Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness and Light," coauthored with Mark S. Burrows.
Jon's been interviewed on CBS News, WGN-TV, Fox News, and CBS Saturday Morning, and by publications online from CNN to Romper. He's a practicing Catholic who also prays regularly with his wife, a congregational rabbi. He loves the church, the synagogue, and other aspects of organized religion. He would never say he's "spiritual but not religious." He is the father of four and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sweeney is codirector of The Lux Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at Sacred Heart Seminary; religion editor at Monkfish Book Publishing; editor of Living City magazine; and contributing editor for books at SpiritualityandPractice.com.