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 6
... things , when we have some specificity about that person's religious beliefs and community . The very notion of which pronouns are appropriate to each of these activities is governed as significantly by religious values as by anything ...
... things , when we have some specificity about that person's religious beliefs and community . The very notion of which pronouns are appropriate to each of these activities is governed as significantly by religious values as by anything ...
Sida 11
... things that we think are best , most lasting , virtuous , and meaningful in this life while eliminating those things we think are the most difficult , frustrating , evil , and inessential . The data are mostly from Christians , but the ...
... things that we think are best , most lasting , virtuous , and meaningful in this life while eliminating those things we think are the most difficult , frustrating , evil , and inessential . The data are mostly from Christians , but the ...
Sida 12
... things that most keep us from achieving them.20 If we also had a description of hell then we could see more clearly all the things which Americans feel are contrary to these values , and how given a heavenly economy , they should be pun ...
... things that most keep us from achieving them.20 If we also had a description of hell then we could see more clearly all the things which Americans feel are contrary to these values , and how given a heavenly economy , they should be pun ...
Sida 42
... things , narrates this unity in story form . Such a story is not what we would call a constitution but it is certainly part of what unified the state into a conceptual whole that could apprehended by the ancient Egyptian . Rituals of ...
... things , narrates this unity in story form . Such a story is not what we would call a constitution but it is certainly part of what unified the state into a conceptual whole that could apprehended by the ancient Egyptian . Rituals of ...
Sida 68
... things as did our coreligionists at the origins of our traditions . Conse- quently we may not conclude that the afterlife is a fixed place with fixed characteristics , a geographical location which never changes . We must face the ...
... things as did our coreligionists at the origins of our traditions . Conse- quently we may not conclude that the afterlife is a fixed place with fixed characteristics , a geographical location which never changes . We must face the ...
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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