In this interpolated episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE, let's look at some Biblical passages that may pertain to Purgatory. Medieval theologians used these verses to codify, justify, and elaborate on the brand-new doctrine.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I look at these five texts to find the rationales behind this new doctrine, brought into church theology formally only a few decades before Dante wrote COMEDY (and not fully codified into church doctrine until long after Dante's death). We can truthfully say that Dante's imagination is one of the most competent architects of Purgatory itself.

Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[02:30] Psalm 49: 13 - 15 and the problem of Sheol (or perhaps "the pit" or "the grave") and its increasingly complex geography over the course of its conception.

[05:42] II Maccabees 12: 39 - 45 and the notion that the living can indeed do something to aid the dead, even idolators.

[10:39] The Gospel Of Luke 16: 19 - 26 and the question of where exactly the poor man Lazarus goes when he dies and heads off to find comfort near Abraham.

[16:47] I Corinthians 3: 11 - 15 and St Paul's notion that in the resurrection, even the redeemed will judged by fire.

[20:11] Philippians 2: 9 - 11 and the strange, slightly baffling tripartite division of the afterlife.