Roman Roads Press Blog

Tag: Purgatorio

Four Reasons to Read Dante in 2023

by Joe Carlson on Posted on

Audio version of this article It’s a new year. You are looking back at the number of books you read during the past twelve months and perhaps sighing. You therefore look ahead and resolve to read more. But where do you begin? Allow me to give you four reasons why you should place Dante’s Comedy at the top of your 2023 to-read pile. POETRY  Poetry teaches, shapes, edifies, and enriches us not by giving us a lecture, but by inviting us into an experience. Poetry surrounds us and ushers us into an imaginative landscape where we meet timeless truths in beautiful language. … Continue Reading “Four Reasons to Read Dante in 2023”

Dante and the Nature of Sanctification

by Joe Carlson on Posted on

A central question in the Christian life is this: what does it mean to grow in holiness, and that particular holiness without which we will not see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14)?  You should not be surprised to hear me say there are seriously helpful answers to this question to be found in Dante’s Comedy. If you are a thorough-going protestant like myself, you might be surprised to hear that many of those answers are found in Purgatorio. There will be a time and place for unpacking the full nature of what our relationship to the notion of Purgatory should be … Continue Reading “Dante and the Nature of Sanctification”