Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western ReligionCrown Publishing Group, 23 de juny 2010 - 880 pàgines 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. |
Des de l'interior del llibre
Resultats 1 - 5 de 77.
Pàgina 2
... already researched the sociology of the afterlife for a decade when the World Trade Center disaster focused our national attention on jilmtl. The tragedy convinced me that this study of the relationship between heaven and social agendas ...
... already researched the sociology of the afterlife for a decade when the World Trade Center disaster focused our national attention on jilmtl. The tragedy convinced me that this study of the relationship between heaven and social agendas ...
Pàgina 2
... already researched the sociology of the afterlife for a de- cade when the World Trade Center disaster focused our national attention on jihad . The tragedy convinced me that this study of the relationship be- tween heaven and social ...
... already researched the sociology of the afterlife for a de- cade when the World Trade Center disaster focused our national attention on jihad . The tragedy convinced me that this study of the relationship be- tween heaven and social ...
Pàgina 5
... 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 interest in ...
... 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 interest in ...
Pàgina 27
... already been developed and prac- ticed for a millennium . According to the Biblical account , Egypt had been the home of the Israelites , who were sojourners there for four hundred years . Canaan itself was nominally under the influence ...
... already been developed and prac- ticed for a millennium . According to the Biblical account , Egypt had been the home of the Israelites , who were sojourners there for four hundred years . Canaan itself was nominally under the influence ...
Pàgina 65
... already entered Roman life . And again the sign for life ankh , seems to be the predecessor for the crucifix , which was not an early Christian symbol and appears to evolve out of contact with Egyptian culture through the monasteries of ...
... already entered Roman life . And again the sign for life ankh , seems to be the predecessor for the crucifix , which was not an early Christian symbol and appears to evolve out of contact with Egyptian culture through the monasteries of ...
Continguts
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 |
Frases i termes més freqüents
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
Passatges populars
Pàgina 628 - And they saw the God of Israel : and there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand : also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
Pàgina 206 - For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, Shall remain before me, saith the Lord, So shall your seed and your name remain.
Pàgina 420 - Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Pàgina 389 - But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery. And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace.
Pàgina 730 - Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest : So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Pàgina 252 - For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again ; neither doth God respect any person : yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
Pàgina 565 - You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
Pàgina 438 - We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Pàgina 159 - And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!
Referències a aquest llibre
Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His ... Joshua Wolf Shenk Previsualització limitada - 2005 |
Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas: A History of the Gospel and Its Growth April D. DeConick Previsualització no disponible - 2006 |