(At Least) Three Things that Dante Got Right

Although I have not read the entire Divine Comedy by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, I am familiar with some of its contents, especially those of the first part of the poem, Inferno (Hell).  From what I have read of Inferno and the third part of the poem, Paradiso (Purgatorio being the second), I find at least three things that Dante had right about the underworld and afterlife.  The first two are more commonly agreed upon than the third.

1. There are degrees of damnation in hell and, ultimately, in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14-15).  When Christ rebukes the scribes and Pharisees in Mt. 23, he warns them about the "greater damnation" in store for them (v. 14).  In Mt. 23:15, he also says that someone can be "twofold more the child of hell than" someone else (viz., the scribes and Pharisees themselves).  Dante's depiction of hell, though not scripturally accurate in many respects, does portray degrees of punishment for the damned, from lighter torment in the upper levels to greater torment in the lower ones.  Literal levels of hell are also something described in scripture (cf. Deut. 32:22; Ps. 86:13).

2. There are degrees of glory in heaven for the saints and contentment with the state of bliss given. A touching scene in Paradiso that highlights this truth is Dante's interview with Piccarda Donati in the outermost sphere of heaven (Canto III, ll. 49-90). Dante enquires about her contentment with this level of glory, to which she meekly replies, "His will is our peace." 

3.  Paradise in the heart of the earth is still occupied, not vacant. Eph. 4:8 is not a fulfillment of Ps. 68:18, since the prophets did not speak of the one-body mystery (Eph. 3:9), but rather used as an illustration that when Christ ascended, gifts were given (Eph. 4:11). The prophets saw Calvary, but not what God would do through Calvary in this mystery age. Peter confirms this truth in Acts 2:34, where he affirms, while filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4ff.), that David "is not ascended..." even though Christ is. Finally, there is no evidence that the saints who rose immediately following Christ's resurrection (Mt. 27:50-53) were taken up to heaven. The passage simply says that they "went into the holy city, and appeared unto many" (v. 53), but no further details are given as to the aftermath. Here's a possible scenario, however: if those who saw these risen saints connected their appearing with the other miracles attending Christ's death, it would serve as further testimony of his divinity (27:54), since no prophet's death resulted in an event like this. I think that this was the purpose of the risen saints' appearing, and I'm not sure they said a word to those who saw them. Their mere presence was to set people thinking as to why such a thing was happening and...lead their thoughts to Christ's recent death. 

So regardless of whether one agrees with Dante's theology in full, his great poem illustrates the three truths above, something we should greatly appreciate today, considering the advanced Biblical light that we have 700 years later (the Comedy was published in 1320!).