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. |
Från bokens innehåll
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Sida xii
... Society of Biblical Literature SBLSCS Society of Biblical Literature Septuagint Cognate Studies Studies in Religion , Supplement SRSup TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament . Ed . G. Kittel and G. Friedrich . Trans . G. W. ...
... Society of Biblical Literature SBLSCS Society of Biblical Literature Septuagint Cognate Studies Studies in Religion , Supplement SRSup TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament . Ed . G. Kittel and G. Friedrich . Trans . G. W. ...
Sida 4
... society . The hardest questions are part of a historian's task . This book will attempt to outline a social his- tory . We will not ask theological questions so much as the basic question of a historian : " cui bono " ? To whose benefit ...
... society . The hardest questions are part of a historian's task . This book will attempt to outline a social his- tory . We will not ask theological questions so much as the basic question of a historian : " cui bono " ? To whose benefit ...
Sida 5
... society . We already know that religion is much more significant on average to Americans than it is to Europeans or even to Canadians , our closest neighbors . Since the time of De Tocqueville , Europeans have noted Amer- ican's special ...
... society . We already know that religion is much more significant on average to Americans than it is to Europeans or even to Canadians , our closest neighbors . Since the time of De Tocqueville , Europeans have noted Amer- ican's special ...
Sida 10
... society stimulated Edwards to this vision . Visions of heaven and hell serve evangelization . Indeed , there is some evidence that the spike of interest in " gothic " or " supernatural " worldviews ( for example , " vampires and vampire ...
... society stimulated Edwards to this vision . Visions of heaven and hell serve evangelization . Indeed , there is some evidence that the spike of interest in " gothic " or " supernatural " worldviews ( for example , " vampires and vampire ...
Sida 11
... society's notions of equality are divinely endowed , we may be los- ing the easy surety that any American whose religion differs from us is automatically damned . That could be indicative that an incipiently multi- cultural society is ...
... society's notions of equality are divinely endowed , we may be los- ing the easy surety that any American whose religion differs from us is automatically damned . That could be indicative that an incipiently multi- cultural society is ...
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 |
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Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in the Religions of the West Alan F. Segal Ingen förhandsgranskning - 2004 |
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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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