In Dante’s Divine Comedy, the poet describes the journey through hell and to heaven. In this epic work, he vividly depicts the torments of sinners and the bliss of saints in the afterlife. In his description of hell, Dante lamented that he had not been able to paint an accurate picture of hell’s ugliness. He believed that no human could ever comprehend how dark and cold hell is. However, he also thought that something beautiful can still exist within something hideous.

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Many other poets have also expressed Dante’s view that our minds are incapable
of creating an image of heaven or the divine realm in general. The medieval Christian writer Anselm of Canterbury believed that God had chosen not to reveal Himself to humans in a form or way that they could later depict Him. This idea is known as Anselm’s theory of analogia lunae ad alma quaeque vertetur – “the heavens will be like a book, and all nations will be invited to read it.” In this case, this invitation would be to understand God’s plan for creation. Later Christian poets such as Terence expressed similar ideas about mankind being unable to imagine the divine realm in a way that could later be interpreted by prophets.

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During the 18th century in Europe, a philosophical school called Helvetism sought to transform man into a more rational and nature-like state through education and science. One aspect of this concept was for humans to strive for an ideal form known as the “noble person” or “noble animal.” This ideal form would include natural characteristics such as rationality and compassion rather than artificial ones such as avarice or pride. The Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle espoused similar ideas when they compared human souls with an ideal version of an animal soul—a soul with a rational mind capable of comprehending reality as it truly is. They believed that humans should strive to emulate this kind of soul so they would become more like God instead of less like Him— so their desires would align with what is best for creation rather than themselves alone.
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It is clear from these examples how poets have perceived heaven and hell beyond what mankind has supposedly been able to perceive so far. Although we cannot create an accurate mental picture of heaven’s beauty, we can aspire towards it nonetheless — towards heaven on earth where everyone will enjoy peace, love, wisdom and eternal life according to Dante’s vision .


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