Explain the concept of contrapasso in Dante’s vision of Hell and explain how both the location and the punishment of the Neutrals reflects this concept. Your answer should be at least 250 words.

Dante describes nine concentric circles, representing an increase of wickedness, where sinners are punished in a fashion befitting their crimes. The Bible says nothing of varying levels of punishment in hell, nor of different levels of severity of sin. The universal punishment for all who reject Jesus Christ as Savior is to be “cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). As far as sin is concerned, the Bible declares that failing to keep God’s law in even the smallest aspect makes us guilty of all of it and therefore worthy of eternal punishment (James 2:10). The murderer, the liar and the proud man are all equally guilty in God’s eyes, and all earn the same basic punishment—the lake of fire.

2. Different types of punishment:

Dante’s vision of hell involved such eternal punishments as souls tormented by biting insects, wallowing in mire, immersed in boiling blood, being lashed with whips. Lesser punishments involve having heads on backwards, chasing unreachable goals for eternity, and walking endlessly in circles. The Bible, however, speaks of hell as a place of “outer darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12; 22:13). Whatever punishment awaits the unrepentant sinner in hell, it is no doubt worse than even Dante could imagine.

Throughout the Divine Comedy, the theme of salvation by man’s works is prevalent. Purgatory is seen as a place where sins are purged through the sinner’s efforts, and heaven has differing levels of rewards for works done in life. Even in the afterlife, Dante sees man as continually working and striving for reward and relief from punishment. But the Bible tells us that heaven is a place of rest from striving, not a continuation of it. The apostle John writes, “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’" Believers who live and die in Christ are saved by faith alone, and the very faith that gets us to heaven is His (Hebrews 12:2), as are the works we do in that faith (Ephesians 2:10). The Divine Comedy may be of interest to Christians as a literary work, but the Bible alone is our infallible guide for faith and life and is the only source of eternal truth.