UID:
almahu_9949546577002882
Format:
1 online resource (352 p.)
ISBN:
9780300265163
,
9783110993899
Content:
A New York Times best-selling scholar's illuminating exploration of the earliest Christian narrated journeys to heaven and hell "[An] illuminating deep dive . . . An edifying origin story for contemporary Christian conceptions of the afterlife."-Publishers Weekly From classics such as the Odyssey and the Aeneid to fifth-century Christian apocrypha, narratives that described guided tours of the afterlife played a major role in shaping ancient notions of morality and ethics. In this new account, acclaimed author Bart Ehrman contextualizes early Christian narratives of heaven and hell within the broader intellectual and cultural worlds from which they emerged. He examines how fundamental social experiences of the early Christian communities molded the conceptions of the afterlife that eventuated into the accepted doctrines of heaven, hell, and purgatory. Drawing on Greek and Roman epic poetry, early Jewish writings such as the Book of Watchers, and apocryphal Christian stories including the Acts of Thomas, the Gospel of Nicodemus, and the Apocalypse of Peter, Ehrman demonstrates that ancient tours of the afterlife promoted reflection on matters of ethics, faith, ambition, and life's meaning, the fruit of which has been codified into Christian belief today.
Note:
Frontmatter --
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Contents --
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Acknowledgments --
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Introduction: The Well-Trodden Paths --
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CHAPTER ONE The Realities of Death and the Meaning of Life I Journeys to Hades in Homer and Virgil --
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CHAPTER TWO The Realities of Death and the Meaning of Life II Jewish and Christian Journeys --
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CHAPTER THREE Incentives from the World Beyond: Christian Ethics and Evangelism --
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CHAPTER FOUR The Afterlife of Afterlives: Editorial Interventions and Christology --
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CHAPTER FIVE The Justice and Mercy of God in Textual Conflict --
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CHAPTER SIX The Power of Christ and the Harrowing of Hell --
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Afterword --
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Notes --
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Bibliography --
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Index
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Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
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In English.
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022 English, De Gruyter, 9783110993899
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022, De Gruyter, 9783110994810
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE Theol., Relig.Stud., Jewish Stud. 2022 English, De Gruyter, 9783110994544
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE Theol., Relig.Stud., Jewish Stud. 2022, De Gruyter, 9783110994537
In:
Yale University Press Complete eBook-Package 2022, De Gruyter, 9783110749779
Language:
English
Subjects:
Theology
DOI:
10.12987/9780300265163
URL:
https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300265163?locatt=mode:legacy
URL:
https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780300265163
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