Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western ReligionCrown Publishing Group, 23 juni 2010 - 880 sidor A magisterial work of social history, Life After Death illuminates the many different ways ancient civilizations grappled with the question of what exactly happens to us after we die. In a masterful exploration of how Western civilizations have defined the afterlife, Alan F. Segal weaves together biblical and literary scholarship, sociology, history, and philosophy. A renowned scholar, Segal examines the maps of the afterlife found in Western religious texts and reveals not only what various cultures believed but how their notions reflected their societies’ realities and ideals, and why those beliefs changed over time. He maintains that the afterlife is the mirror in which a society arranges its concept of the self. The composition process for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam begins in grief and ends in the victory of the self over death. Arguing that in every religious tradition the afterlife represents the ultimate reward for the good, Segal combines historical and anthropological data with insights gleaned from religious and philosophical writings to explain the following mysteries: why the Egyptians insisted on an afterlife in heaven, while the body was embalmed in a tomb on earth; why the Babylonians viewed the dead as living in underground prisons; why the Hebrews remained silent about life after death during the period of the First Temple, yet embraced it in the Second Temple period (534 B.C.E. –70 C.E.); and why Christianity placed the afterlife in the center of its belief system. He discusses the inner dialogues and arguments within Judaism and Christianity, showing the underlying dynamic behind them, as well as the ideas that mark the differences between the two religions. In a thoughtful examination of the influence of biblical views of heaven and martyrdom on Islamic beliefs, he offers a fascinating perspective on the current troubling rise of Islamic fundamentalism. In tracing the organic, historical relationships between sacred texts and communities of belief and comparing the visions of life after death that have emerged throughout history, Segal sheds a bright, revealing light on the intimate connections between notions of the afterlife, the societies that produced them, and the individual’s search for the ultimate meaning of life on earth. |
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Sida 18
... present in Chinese religion , they are not always central to its doctrines . Sometimes it is evidenced primarily in ritual . We must also consider the history of European misperceptions about the religions of the world . Europeans ...
... present in Chinese religion , they are not always central to its doctrines . Sometimes it is evidenced primarily in ritual . We must also consider the history of European misperceptions about the religions of the world . Europeans ...
Sida 49
... present pharaoh was then the embracer , the worshiper , the adorer , and the sacred sharer in the essence of his father , Osiris , who was his ka . As Jan Assmann writes : This constellation of father and son , one in the hereafter ...
... present pharaoh was then the embracer , the worshiper , the adorer , and the sacred sharer in the essence of his father , Osiris , who was his ka . As Jan Assmann writes : This constellation of father and son , one in the hereafter ...
Sida 52
... present at the tomb as ka with the mummified body , in the heavens with the divine ba or akh residing in the house of Osiris , while enjoying the Duat in the " field of rushes , " receiv- ing gifts at the " field of offerings , " riding ...
... present at the tomb as ka with the mummified body , in the heavens with the divine ba or akh residing in the house of Osiris , while enjoying the Duat in the " field of rushes , " receiv- ing gifts at the " field of offerings , " riding ...
Sida 58
... present but that it did not reach historical remembrance . Whatever the reason , the failure of Akhenaten's reform brought with it a new creative stage in Egyptian religion . The centerpiece of the restora- tion was a new book : The ...
... present but that it did not reach historical remembrance . Whatever the reason , the failure of Akhenaten's reform brought with it a new creative stage in Egyptian religion . The centerpiece of the restora- tion was a new book : The ...
Sida 61
... present as well . The phar- aoh may have achieved immortality because the gods loved him so much they gave him the correct spells or prayers , or he may have successfully passed all the ordeals he faced in his journey to the afterlife ...
... present as well . The phar- aoh may have achieved immortality because the gods loved him so much they gave him the correct spells or prayers , or he may have successfully passed all the ordeals he faced in his journey to the afterlife ...
Innehåll
1 | |
27 | |
70 | |
The First Temple Period in Israel | 120 |
Iranian Views of the Afterlife and Ascent to the Heavens | 173 |
Greek and Classical Views of Life After Death | 204 |
The Rise of a Beatific | 248 |
PART THREE Visions of Resurrection and | 283 |
The Gospels in Contrast to Pauls Writings | 441 |
The Pseudepigraphic Literature | 478 |
The Church Fathers and Their Opponents | 532 |
The Early Rabbis | 596 |
Muslim Christian | 639 |
Immortal Longings | 697 |
Notes | 733 |
Bibliography | 783 |
Vanliga ord och fraser
Adapa afterlife ancient angels apocalyptic apocalypticism ascent beatific believe Bible Biblical body Canaanite century Christ Christian church consciousness context cult culture Dead Sea Scrolls death depiction described divine doctrine early earth Egypt Egyptian Enoch Epic evidence evil experience faith flesh fundamentalist Gilgamesh Gnostic God's gods Gospel Gospel of Thomas Greek heaven heavenly journey Hebrew Hebrew Bible hell Hellenistic human immortality Inanna interpretation Isaiah Islam Israel Israelite Jesus Jewish mysticism Jews Josephus Judaism judgment king literature living Lord martyrdom martyrs means Merkabah Mesopotamia Messiah Mishnah moral Muslim myth narrative notion Osiris passage Paul Paul's Persian person Philo philosophical Plato prophecy prophet punishment Qumran Rabbinic religion religious resurrection revelation reward righteous ritual Roman salvation Scripture seems social soul spirit stars story suggests Temple term Testament theurgy thought tion tomb tradition transcendent transformation Ugarit understand University Press vision word YHWH Zoroastrianism
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