--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think I know why purgatory became so…" description: "\"“I think I know why purgatory became so popular, why Dante’s middle volume is the one people most easily relate to. The myth of purgatory is an allegor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e1/n-t-wright-1173_purgatory_i-think-i-know-why-purgatory-became-so-p_2445522.png" --- # I think I know why purgatory became so popular, why… ![“I think I know why purgatory became so popular, why Dante’s middle volume is the one people most easily relate to. The myth of purgatory is an allegory, a projection from the present onto the future. This is why purgatory appeals to the imagination. It is our story, here and now. If we are…” quote by N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e1/n-t-wright-1173_purgatory_i-think-i-know-why-purgatory-became-so-p_2445522.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e1/n-t-wright-1173_purgatory_i-think-i-know-why-purgatory-became-so-p_2445522.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e1/n-t-wright-1173_purgatory_i-think-i-know-why-purgatory-became-so-p_2445522.png) > ““I think I know why purgatory became so popular, why Dante’s middle volume is the one people most easily relate to. The myth of purgatory is an allegory, a projection from the present onto the future. This is why purgatory appeals to the imagination. It is our story, here and now. If we are Christians, if we believe in the risen Jesus as Lord, if we are baptized members of his body, then we are passing right now through the sufferings that form the gateway to life. Of course, this means that for millions of our theological and spiritual ancestors death brought a pleasant surprise. They had been gearing themselves up for a long struggle ahead, only to find it was already over.”” [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The concept of purgatory resonates because it mirrors present struggles as a transitional phase toward ultimate life, making the afterlife feel immediate and hopeful. **In simple terms:** Purgatory feels like a present struggle leading to life. Key Takeaway See current suffering as a step toward hope. Themes theology hope afterlife Mood reflective inspirational Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - personal grief - death counseling - faith formation - interfaith dialogue Key Concepts Christian eschatology allegory spiritual journey Questions to Reflect On - How does viewing suffering as transitional affect coping? - What alternative metaphors explain hope after death? A Different Perspective Some traditions reject purgatory, limiting its universal appeal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Purgatory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purgatory/) ## Related quotes > [“True, the doctrine of purgatory was not so popular outside Roman circles in the nineteenth century. But “penal substitution,” which had been emphasized partly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/true-the-doctrine-of-purgatory-was-not-so-popular-outside-roman/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“There's no such thing as security in this life sweetheart, and the sooner you accept that fact, the better off you'll be. The person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-s-no-such-thing-as-security-in-this-life-sweetheart-and-the/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“One day I asked my mother, "Mom, where's my dreaming place?" 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They fall because of their own Decadence."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/society-has-three-stages-savagery-ascendance-decadence-the-great-rise/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [“I always encourage them to practice in a way that will help them go back to their own tradition and get re-rooted. If they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/i-always-encourage-them-to-practice-in-a-way-that-will-help-them-go/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“Since both the departed saints and we ourselves are in Christ, we share with them in the 'communion of saints.' They are still our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/since-both-the-departed-saints-and-we-ourselves-are-in-christ-we/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“If Hell is other people... then Purgatory is airports.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-hell-is-other-people-then-purgatory-is-airports/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“For me, dear reader, that place was purgatory incarnate; neither good nor bad, but a gateway to great rewards or even greater punishments.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-sheldon/for-me-dear-reader-that-place-was-purgatory-incarnate-neither-good/) [Joss Sheldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-sheldon/) > [We live with incessant music, all the time. It's like some weird musical purgatory, there is absolutely no rest for the ears, no space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-blake/we-live-with-incessant-music-all-the-time-it-s-like-some-weird/) [James Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-blake/) > [A prison! heav'ns, I loath the hated name, Famine's metropolis, the sink of shame, A nauseous sepulchre, whose craving womb Hourly inters poor mortals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brown-jr/a-prison-heav-ns-i-loath-the-hated-name-famine-s-metropolis-the-sink/) [Tom Brown, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brown-jr/) > [I want to serve. I love my country. I love service above self and I don't want my talents to go to waste. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-broadwell/i-want-to-serve-i-love-my-country-i-love-service-above-self-and-i-don/) [Paula Broadwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-broadwell/) > [If the politics of inaction and delay that have triumphed in this country continues for another decade, then Planetary Purgatory in the likely future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/if-the-politics-of-inaction-and-delay-that-have-triumphed-in-this/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [I see no reason why I should not live on indefinitely just as I have done, and on the whole I am more comfortable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-borden/i-see-no-reason-why-i-should-not-live-on-indefinitely-just-as-i-have/) [Mary Borden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-borden/) > [Time is a purgatory that has cleansed all fury from my memories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ndor-m-rai/time-is-a-purgatory-that-has-cleansed-all-fury-from-my-memories/) [Sándor Márai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ndor-m-rai/) ## More by N.T. Wright > [“This means that the church, the followers of Jesus Christ, live in the bright interval between Easter and the final great consummation. Let's make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/this-means-that-the-church-the-followers-of-jesus-christ-live-in-the/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“The very mention of crucifixion was taboo in polite Roman circles, since it was the lowest form of capital punishment, reserved for slaves and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/the-very-mention-of-crucifixion-was-taboo-in-polite-roman-circles/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“Sunday, kept as a commemoration of Easter ever since that event itself (a quite remarkable phenomenon when you come to think about it), is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/sunday-kept-as-a-commemoration-of-easter-ever-since-that-event-itself/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“The point of trying to understand the cross better is not so that we can congratulate ourselves for having solved an intellectual crossword puzzle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/the-point-of-trying-to-understand-the-cross-better-is-not-so-that-we/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“there is no such thing as a god’s-eye view (by which would be meant a Deist god’s-eye view) available to human beings, a point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-god-s-eye-view-by-which-would-be-meant-a/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“The “goal” is not “heaven,” but a renewed human vocation within God’s renewed creation. This is what every biblical book from Genesis on is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/the-goal-is-not-heaven-but-a-renewed-human-vocation-within-god-s/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“having a hard enough time explaining to his disciples that he had to die; they never really grasped that at all, and they certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/having-a-hard-enough-time-explaining-to-his-disciples-that-he-had-to/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“If we are talking about the victory over evil and the launch of new creation, it won’t make much sense unless we are working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/if-we-are-talking-about-the-victory-over-evil-and-the-launch-of-new/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“The personal message of Good Friday, expressed in so many hymns and prayers which draw on the tradition of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/the-personal-message-of-good-friday-expressed-in-so-many-hymns-and/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“To recognize that the Psalms call us to pray and sing at the intersections of the times--of our time and God's time, of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/to-recognize-that-the-psalms-call-us-to-pray-and-sing-at-the/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“Successful resistance to temptation may result in an increase of moral muscle, but that is because one is going to need it. A temptation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/successful-resistance-to-temptation-may-result-in-an-increase-of/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“Blessings on the poor in spirit! The kingdom of heaven is yours” (Matt. 5:3) doesn’t mean, “You will go to heaven when you die.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/blessings-on-the-poor-in-spirit-the-kingdom-of-heaven-is-yours-matt-5/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“As C. S. Lewis regularly remarked, the chronological snobbery of the modern age (i.e. the assumption that anything that comes after around 1750 is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/as-c-s-lewis-regularly-remarked-the-chronological-snobbery-of-the/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“The kingdom of God is, at its heart, about God’s sovereignty sweeping the world with love and power, so that human beings, each made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/the-kingdom-of-god-is-at-its-heart-about-god-s-sovereignty-sweeping/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“pre-Christian Judaism, including the disciples during Jesus’s lifetime, never envisaged the death of the Messiah. That is why they never thought of his resurrection,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/pre-christian-judaism-including-the-disciples-during-jesus-s-lifetime/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) [Explore all 278 N.T. Wright quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) ## More Purgatory quotes > [Time is a purgatory that has cleansed all fury from my memories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ndor-m-rai/time-is-a-purgatory-that-has-cleansed-all-fury-from-my-memories/) [Sándor Márai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ndor-m-rai/) > [I see no reason why I should not live on indefinitely just as I have done, and on the whole I am more comfortable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-borden/i-see-no-reason-why-i-should-not-live-on-indefinitely-just-as-i-have/) [Mary Borden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-borden/) > [If the politics of inaction and delay that have triumphed in this country continues for another decade, then Planetary Purgatory in the likely future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/if-the-politics-of-inaction-and-delay-that-have-triumphed-in-this/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [I want to serve. I love my country. I love service above self and I don't want my talents to go to waste. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-broadwell/i-want-to-serve-i-love-my-country-i-love-service-above-self-and-i-don/) [Paula Broadwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-broadwell/) > [A prison! heav'ns, I loath the hated name, Famine's metropolis, the sink of shame, A nauseous sepulchre, whose craving womb Hourly inters poor mortals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brown-jr/a-prison-heav-ns-i-loath-the-hated-name-famine-s-metropolis-the-sink/) [Tom Brown, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brown-jr/) > [We live with incessant music, all the time. It's like some weird musical purgatory, there is absolutely no rest for the ears, no space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-blake/we-live-with-incessant-music-all-the-time-it-s-like-some-weird/) [James Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-blake/) > [“For me, dear reader, that place was purgatory incarnate; neither good nor bad, but a gateway to great rewards or even greater punishments.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-sheldon/for-me-dear-reader-that-place-was-purgatory-incarnate-neither-good/) [Joss Sheldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-sheldon/) > [“If Hell is other people... then Purgatory is airports.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-hell-is-other-people-then-purgatory-is-airports/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [God -- if he really exist -- is good, alive, self-conscious, and governs all things according to his benevolent and holy providence; but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-batchelder-greene/god-if-he-really-exist-is-good-alive-self-conscious-and-governs-all/) [William Batchelder Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-batchelder-greene/) > [The life we led was a proof of man's capacity for adaptation.I think that even the condemned souls in purgatory after time develop a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-life-we-led-was-a-proof-of-man-s-capacity-for-adaptation-i-think/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [“True, the doctrine of purgatory was not so popular outside Roman circles in the nineteenth century. But “penal substitution,” which had been emphasized partly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/true-the-doctrine-of-purgatory-was-not-so-popular-outside-roman/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [Supernatural hasn't spent a lot of time on relationship stories, and this is a really nice mechanism to do that without imposing that on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-carver/supernatural-hasn-t-spent-a-lot-of-time-on-relationship-stories-and/) Jeremy Carver > [“Is that why you do good deeds, Richie? To shorten your time in Purgatory?' 'Oh, honey,' he said, brushing lint from an orange sleeve.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-nava/is-that-why-you-do-good-deeds-richie-to-shorten-your-time-in/) [Michael Nava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-nava/) > [ From the time of Dante \[Alighieri\], when you have the Ptolemaic universe, you had God on the outside like a hypersphere, and then in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/from-the-time-of-dante-alighieri-when-you-have-the-ptolemaic-universe/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [The same fire" (which he decides to be material) " torments the damned in hell and the just in purgatory...The least pain in purgatory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/the-same-fire-which-he-decides-to-be-material-torments-the-damned-in/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) [Browse all 142 Purgatory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purgatory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I think I know why purgatory became so popular, why Dante’s middle volume is the one people most easily relate to. 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