Why are the virtuous pagans in hell

Dante and Virgil then pass over the stream, go through the seven gates, and reach a green meadow. Dante recognizes the figures of authority dwelling there, and as the poets stand on a small hill, Dante gives the names of rulers, philosophers, and others who are there and regrets that he does not have time to name them all.

Prominent among the philosophers are Socrates, Plato, Cicero, Seneca, and "the master of those who know" Aristotle. Dante and Virgil leave this quiet place and come to one where there is no light.

Between Hell proper, the place of punishment, and the vestibule, Dante places the circle of Limbo, devoted to those people who had no opportunity to choose either good or evil in terms of having faith in Christ. This circle is occupied by the virtuous pagans, those who lived before Christ was born, and by the unbaptized.

Many of the shades in Limbo are not really sinners, but people who were born before Christianity. These virtuous pagans live forever in a place of their creation. The shades that Dante singles out, such as Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato, lived by wisdom and thought, not religion, or at least not Dante's religion. Therefore, the Hell that they reside in allows them to reside in human wisdom, but without the light of God.

Most of the first circle is in darkness, though Dante allows reason to create a small light of its own. Socrates, for example, wrote that he envisioned the afterlife as a place where one would have discussions with great people that came before or that lived in the present. Therefore, Socrates gained his ideal eternity. Thus, Socrates is in Limbo, discussing philosophy and ethics with the other great souls that are there.

In other words, Socrates attained the kind of afterlife that he, as a wise man, envisioned as the perfect one. His afterlife is not punishment; it is the failure of the imagination to envision the coming of Christ and faith in the coming of the Messiah.

You cannot buy one — the church outlawed the sale of indulgences in — but charitable contributions, combined with other acts, can help you earn one. Those Christians who die still imperfectly purified must, according to Catholic teaching, pass through a state of purification known as purgatory before entering heaven.

A mortal sin Latin: peccatum mortale , in Catholic theology, is a gravely sinful act, which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. Despite its gravity, a person can repent of having committed a mortal sin.

Such repentance is the primary requisite for forgiveness and absolution. The verdict that limbo could now rest in peace had been expected for years. Part of a series of articles on … Wikipedia.

Norse paganism — Part of Norse paganism … Wikipedia. Trajan — Traian redirects here. For other uses, see Traian disambiguation. Virtuous pagan. Virtuous pagan Virtuous paganism is a concept of Christian theology analogous to the Righteous Among the Nations in Judaism.

Look at other dictionaries: Paganism — Pagan redirect here. For other usages, see Pagan disambiguation … Wikipedia Christianity and Paganism — Part of seventh century casket, depicting the pan Germanic legend of Weyland Smith, which was apparently also a part of Anglo Saxon pagan mythology. This article provides an overview of the relations between Christianity and its adherents vs… … Wikipedia Slavic mythology — is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation.