The Way of Dante: Going Through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven with C.S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Charles Williams

The Way of Dante: Going Through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven with C.S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Charles Williams by Richard Hughes Gibson, Professor of English at Wheaton College.

For centuries, readers have marveled at the imaginative brilliance of authors like C.S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Charles Williams. But what inspired these literary giants? The Way of Dante takes you on a journey of discovering how the medieval poet Dante Alighieri and his masterwork, The Divine Comedy, shaped their thoughts, artistry, and faith.

In The Way of Dante, Richard Hughes Gibson reveals the profound influence of The Divine Comedy on the writings of Sayers, Williams, and Lewis through

• Following the authors as they read, reflect on, and debate Dante’s allegorical journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven
• Challenging common misconceptions about Dante’s work
• Exploring how Dante prompts reflection on sin, love, and glory
• Revealing the psychological, social, and theological lessons learned

The Way of Dante is ideal for readers, scholars, teachers, and students interested in The Divine Comedy; the works of Sayers, Lewis, and Williams; or the spiritual dimensions of storytelling. Step into the minds of three of the 20th century’s most beloved writers and be inspired to view Dante through a new lens.

The Way of Dante is part of the Hansen Lectureship Series which offers accessible and insightful reflections by Wheaton College faculty members based upon the transformative work of the Wade Center authors. The Wade Center is grateful for our partnership with IVP Academic and the many ways that the Hansen series broadens the scope of the conversation about these authors and their work.

The Way of Dante will be available for purchase at the Wade Center and online from IVP Academic in December 2025.

Praise for The Way of Dante:

"In The Way of Dante, Richard Hughes Gibson does not teach us about Dante; rather through Dante, we learn more about the reality of sin, ourselves, and God. By uniting Williams, Lewis, and Sayers's writings on The Divine Comedy, Gibson grants readers a blessed opportunity of a cotaught Great Books seminar, a dialogue of the dead orchestrated with vitality around one of the tradition's eternal poets!"
- Jessica Hooten Wilson, Fletcher Jones Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University

"This is the book for which many readers of Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers, and C.S. Lewis have been waiting, and one that richly fulfills their anticipations. With solid scholarship and yet a light touch, the author shows how interest in Dante held this trio of writers together as a network, motivating, critiquing, quoting, and promoting each other as readers of the medieval poet. With keen insight and a lively manner that belies the difficulty of the task, the author clearly demonstrates how the complex relations between Williams, Sayers, and Lewis allow the many-sidedness of Dante to emerge today—as poet, storyteller, humorist, and theologian. Always illuminating and interesting, this book is essential reading for all who value the writings of these three modern interpreters of Dante."
- Paul S. Fiddes, professor of systematic theology at the University of Oxford and principal emeritus and senior research fellow at Regent's Park College