Click2Religion - Purgatory: Illustrations from Dantes Divine Comedy - Chapter 1 - Preface

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top><table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff cellpadding=5> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <div align=center> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>Purgatory:<br> Illustrations from Dantes <i>Divine Comedy</i></b></font></p>  <table width="590"> <tr> <td align="CENTER" valign="top" bgcolor="000000" colspan=2><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="3" color="FFFFFF"><b>STORY CHAPTER LINKS</b></font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align=center valign=top width=50%>  <table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" border="0"> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><a href="#preface"><b>1. STORY PREFACE</b></a></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="50%"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="purgatory_ch2.htm">2. ANCIENT ORIGINS</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="purgatory_ch3.htm">3. A PLACE CALLED PURGATORY</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="purgatory_ch4.htm">4. DANTE ALIGHIERI</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="292"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="purgatory_ch5.htm">5. PURGATORY ILLUSTRATED</a></b></font> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> <td align=center valign=top width=50%>  <table width=316 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 border=0> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="292"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="purgatory_ch6.htm">6. ILLUSTRATIONS OF GUSTAVE DORE</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="292"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="purgatory_ch7.htm">7. NOTRE DAMES DANTE COLLECTION</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="292"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="purgatory_ch8.htm">8. ATTACKS ON PURGATORY</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="292"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="purgatory_ch9.htm">9. PURGATORY TODAY</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="292"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="purgatory_ch10.htm">10. USED AND RECOMMENDED SOURCES</a></b></font> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table>  <p><b><font size="3"><u><a name="preface">PREFACE</a></u></font></b></p> <div align=center> <font face="Times New Roman" color="000000" size="3"><b><i>Purgatory - what a grand thing!</i></b><br> <a target="_blank" href="images/st.catherine.JPG"><b>Saint Catherine of Genoa</b></a></font><br><br> </div> <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">Thoughtful people have long disputed whether Purgatory - a place where a persons soul is purified after death - actually exists. Far from viewing it as a grand thing, Protestant reformers, like Martin Luther, thought Purgatory - and the economy which supported it - was nothing more than a Church scheme to separate people from their money. The soul of a dead person, reformers declared, either went straight to heaven, or straight to hell. Souls didnt make intermediate stops at a place called Purgatory.</p> <p>Where did the idea of Purgatory originate? Does it have ancient roots? Modern acceptance? Do scholars believe Dantes <i>Divine Comedy</i> - which devotes an entire section to Purgatory - is merely a lyrical poem, to be studied and enjoyed as great literature, or do they think it is a theological masterpiece, to be taken as metaphorical truth?</p> </div> <p align="right"><font size="2"><a href="purgatory_ch2.htm">GO TO CHAPTER 2</a></font></p> <p align="center"><font face="arial, helvetica" size="3"><a href="http://www.awesomestories.com/content/about_author.htm" target="_blank"><b>Author: Carole D. Bos, J.D.</b></a></center></p><br> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table> </body>