The Cost of Simony in The Inferno

Dante, the author of The Inferno, obviously had a very low opinion of people guilty of simony in his book. But what is the definition of Simony? Well, Simony is named after a blasphemous person in the bible named Simon, and the definition of Simony is to use your position in the church for personal or monetary gain, or buying a position in the church instead of earning it. The end result of Simony in The Inferno is to be stuck upside down inside a rock with your feet outside the rock on fire. Why is this the reality for people guilty of simony? Such a reality manifested because to give away your spiritual position for monetary gain is an extremely evil thing to do. The priorities are upside down.

Think of it this way: this world is temporary, and so everything in this world is also temporary. However, the afterlife is eternal. To throw away your eternal life for a bit of short-term power is not only stupid, wicked, and pointless, but also makes you corrupt. You can't buy spirituality. That is why simony had such a terribly painful result, and why it is always worth it to lose your earthly possessions rather than your spiritual possessions.