Dante’s moral history reflects the conflict of natural justice and Christian theology in its complex taxonomy of iniquity in the Inferno; why else the invention of ‘Limbo’ in Hell to ameliorate the fate of good non-Christian souls, like Virgil, which Christian – particularly Roman Catholic - orthodoxy would exclude from Paradise? Neither is Dante averse to the subjectivity of his primal justice in sending the betrayers of hospitality to eternal damnation upon commission of such a sin, and leaving their living bodies abodes of demons on earth, despite the heretical defiance of Christian doctrine that God will save the repentant sinner up to the moment of death; that said, one might argue internal consistency in Dante’s portrayal of Hell, where heretics are confined to the sixth circle of Hell, while traitors to their guests plumb Hell’s deepest depths in the ninth circle.

At the heart of this intellectual struggle with Christian justice, with Dante advocating no less than the application of sober reason, is a prevalent, instinctive discomfort with the theology of original sin – of particular favour with Protestant orthodoxy – which imputes an equal guilt on all humankind, who share a shattered image of the Divine that no human volition nor deed will redeem. Dante’s choice of a righteous pagan in his tour of Hell would, therefore, be considered a logical choice of guide by reason of reasonable necessity. Could Divine Justice, the progenitor of imperfect human justice, be less discriminating and impervious to gradations of good and evil in favour of a blanket guilt for all?

Nonetheless, the flaws of human reason are not eradicated in Dante’s testament. For instance, while the phantasmagoria of hellish punishments follow the law of contrapasso, or just counter-penalty which matches sin and punishment, it is inconceivable how eternal torment is commensurate with sin in a lifespan of threescore years and ten. Neither is one fully convinced that sins of incontinence (such as lust) are necessarily distinct from, and of a lesser order than, sins of intent (such as violence); one need only tune in to ‘Law and Order’ for defences on the basis of insanity for a plethora of crimes that traverse Dante’s dichotomy.

Theology aside, Dante’s scathing denunciation of hypocrisy in the Church of his day remains a chilling bugle call to reflection and repentance by today’s Church, Catholic or Protestant, which continues to struggle with scandal, hypocrisy and avarice (often presented as God-sanctioned abundance). For the individual Christian, Dante’s search for the “path that does not stray”, having “journeyed half of his (sic) life’s way” prompts us to serious re-consideration of spiritual realities ‘mid life’s crises.