Is lying worse than murder?
In the Inferno, Dante the Poet places the sin of flattery in a worse section of hell than murder. How could this be?
Dante is a master of the soul, and what he offers you is a tremendous insight into the spiritual harm of lying and its corruptive effect upon the intellect of man.
He presents a brilliant catechesis on the soul, truth, and the reality of Jesus Christ.
You will never see lying the same way again.
Dcn. Harrison Garlick discusses The Spiritual Harm of Lying, the most popular article on The Ascent at present, on our sister company, Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, and does a deep dive into this fascinating topic.
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Show notes:
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick explores one of the most striking features of Dante’s Inferno: why the poet places liars, flatterers, and the treacherous in the lowest circles of Hell — deeper than murderers, tyrants, suicides, and even blasphemers.
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We are reading the Odyssey over 12 weeks!
Why does Dante rank fraud and treachery as worse sins than violence? What is the spiritual harm of lying? And how is lying profoundly anti-Christ?
Deacon Garlick takes listeners on a deep but accessible journey through:
The architecture and purpose of Dante’s Inferno
The nature of truth and the teleology (purpose) of speech
Why sins against the soul are worse than sins against the body
The corruption of the intellect as the worst perversion of human nature
The profound theology of Christ as the Logos — the divine ordering principle of all reality
This episode will challenge you to take lying far more seriously and to see how every lie moves both ourselves and others farther away from Jesus Christ, who declares “I am the Truth.”
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Ascend The Great Books Podcast
04:13 Exploring Dante’s Inferno: The Spiritual Harm of Lying
06:07 Understanding the Architecture of Hell
15:05 The Nature of Truth and Speech
20:26 The Consequences of Lying vs. Murder
24:24 The Nature of Lying and Its Consequences
30:52 Understanding Logos and Its Significance
Key Topics Discussed
Dante’s moral purpose in writing the Divine Comedy
The structure of Hell: sins of incontinence vs. sins of malice
Upper Hell vs. Lower Hell and the City of Dis
Why flattery appears lower in Hell than murder
St. Thomas Aquinas on truth: “the conformity of the mind to reality”
The purpose (telos) of speech: to convey truth and help others conform their minds to reality
Why lying is a perversion of speech and an attack on the intellect
The inverted hierarchy of the soul in Hell
Christ as the Logos (John 1) — the rational structure and ordering principle of all creation
How lying is an anti-Christ act that divorces the mind from reality and from Jesus Himself
The spiritual danger of breeding greater errors through falsehood
Notable Quotes / Insights
“Sins against the soul are always going to be more severe than sins against the body.”
“The corruption of the best is the worst.”
“Christ does not say ‘I have come to share a truth with you.’ He says, ‘I am the Truth.’”
“Every lie moves people farther away from Jesus Christ because you are divorcing the mind from reality.”
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Dcn. Harrison Garlick is a deacon, husband, father, Chancellor, and attorney. He lives in rural Oklahoma with his wife and five children. He is also the host of Ascend: The Great Books Podcast. Follow him on X at Dcn. Garlick or Ascend.
