Dante's Easter Journey

Part 2: Good Friday; Hope even here.

Part 2: Good Friday

Hope... Even Here

Good Friday is one of the most mysterious days of the Christian calendar. The Son of God hangs crucified, abandoned by almost everyone. The sky grows dark, and yet we dare to call it “Good.” It’s tempting to look forward to the Hope of Easter Sunday, and not give Good Friday its due. But what Dante reminds me about the Christian story is that we need the descent: we need to confront everything that has gone wrong in the world and in ourselves before we can move upward, and truly behold the Light.

This is what Dante does. We don’t journey with him through Hell to point fingers at sinners, but to understand the truth about sin—and about ourselves. We, too, must take stock of our disordered loves and realign them with the Way and the Truth. The inscription over the gates of Hell in canto 3 is a stark reminder: “Abandon all hope, you who enter.” This is no metaphor, but the reality of eternal separation from God. The fate of the souls in Hell has already been sealed. Their choices in life were made freely, and they never repented of them. Now, they’re cut off from Hope, because of their own choice to turn away from God himself.

And yet, even here, even in the depths of Hell, there is hope: for the living. For Dante, and for us. Dante is showing us the cost of sin to wake us up to the power of moral choice. Like Dante, we still have time to choose more wisely.

The lesson is repeated in canto 12, when Dante sees the tell-tale signs of the earthquake that shook Hell during the final moments of the Crucifixion.

This is what makes today a “Good” Friday. Christ’s descent during the Harrowing of Hell wasn’t a gesture, but a rescue, and Dante invites every single reader of Inferno to recognize that we’re not damned: we’re each still on the journey, just like him. We’re not supposed to stay in Hell. We, too, can follow in Christ’s footsteps and rise to everlasting glory.

"Abandon all hope, you who enter here."

🎥 Video: Dante Minutes — What Does It Look Like to Abandon Hope? Dante, Inferno 3: https://youtube.com/shorts/yHwKCgCw3Sw

🎥 Video: Dante Minutes — Hope... Even Here Dante, Inferno 12 (part 2): https://youtube.com/shorts/SkGXJhl35zQ

The Greats Story Lab was founded by SJ Murray, Ph.D. (Princeton), a Professor at Baylor University and EMMY®-nominated filmmaker, and Imagineer Courtney Becker. The Greats is about bringing the great literary works to the people once again, using film and other creative media.