Page 23 - Contrast1991Fall
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The Forgotten Circle of the Inferno
With some reluctance I must tell "There is a portion of my story I want to
of my Journey to Hell fix. "satd he, -I left out a whole circle.
and of what befell. Come to Canto thirty-six. •
Upon first arrival I could have cried So I followed along at a sluggish pace
for, of all people, Dante himself trying to conceal the discouragement
.was chosen as my guide. and discomfort on my face.
Round I
fI'hose who did good works but never accepted Chrtst)
We came to a large, circular tunnel Because they thought good deeds made
which ran vertically and was them pure they are piled under filthy
shaped mUch Uke a funnel. rags.good works are a false cure.
We went through this to reach lower They would not have had to fall
ground Where lie the sinners that Dante
never mentioned, of the first round. if they understood the Ephesian letter
penned by Paul.
In one POSitionthe people did stay That it is not by works, but by grace
on the ground, motionless, that men are saved and have
their bodies in continual decay. in heaven a prepared place.
Dante Said, -When God spoke to them Still they recognized not the need
in their season and tried to draw them for a Savior and followed not God's
to Himself, they rejected His plan; for but their own creed.
thIs reason.
Their body is in such a mess, for Look carefully at where these moralists
lie." "And," he added, "see that you come
Without God man is eternally and not hither when you die."
forever hopeless.
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