Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell PDF Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501136747
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Over half of Americans believe in a literal heaven, in a literal hell. Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian and assume they are the age-old teachings of the Bible. Ehrman shows that eternal rewards and punishments are found nowhere in the Old Testament, and are not what Jesus or his disciples taught. He recounts the long history of the afterlife, ranging from The Epic of Gilgamesh up to the writings of Augustine, focusing especially on the teachings of Jesus and his early followers. Ehrman shows that competing views were intimately connected with the social, cultural, and historical worlds out of which they emerged. -- adapted from jacket

Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell PDF Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501136747
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book

Book Description
Over half of Americans believe in a literal heaven, in a literal hell. Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian and assume they are the age-old teachings of the Bible. Ehrman shows that eternal rewards and punishments are found nowhere in the Old Testament, and are not what Jesus or his disciples taught. He recounts the long history of the afterlife, ranging from The Epic of Gilgamesh up to the writings of Augustine, focusing especially on the teachings of Jesus and his early followers. Ehrman shows that competing views were intimately connected with the social, cultural, and historical worlds out of which they emerged. -- adapted from jacket

Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell PDF Author: Louis Markos
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1620327503
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
For thousands of years, philosophers, theologians, and poets have tried to pierce through the veil of death to gaze with wonder, fear, and awe on the final and eternal state of the soul. Indeed, the four great epic poets of the Western tradition (Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Milton) structured their epics in part around a descent into the underworld that is both spiritual and physical, both allegorical and geographical. This book not only considers closely these epic journeys to the "other side," but explores the chain of influences that connects the poets to such writers as Plato, Cicero, St. John, St. Paul, Bunyan, Blake, and C. S. Lewis. Written in a narrative, "man of letters" style and complete with an annotated bibliography, a timeline, a who's who, and an extensive glossary of Jewish, Christian, and mythological terms, this user-friendly book will help readers understand how heaven and hell have been depicted for the last 3,000 years.

Resurrection, Hell and the Afterlife

Resurrection, Hell and the Afterlife PDF Author: Mark Finney
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317236378
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
This book begins by arguing that early Greek reflection on the afterlife and immortality insisted on the importance of the physical body whereas a wealth of Jewish texts from the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism and early (Pauline) Christianity understood post-mortem existence to be that of the soul alone. Changes begin to appear in the later New Testament where the importance of the afterlife of the physical body became essential, and such thoughts continued into the period of the early Church where the significance of the physical body in post-mortem existence became a point of theological orthodoxy. This book will assert that the influx of Greco-Romans into the early Church changed the direction of Christian thought towards one which included the body. At the same time, the ideological and polemical thrust of an eternal tortuous afterlife for the wicked became essential.

10 Mistakes People Make About Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife

10 Mistakes People Make About Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife PDF Author: Mike Fabarez
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN: 073697301X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
What's the Truth About Eternity? The afterlife seems like the great unknown. Human imagination and Hollywood have come up with many speculations about what lies beyond. How can we set aside the misconceptions and find the truth? What are the straightforward, biblical answers everyone needs to know about heaven, hell, and the afterlife? Mike Fabarez examines 10 faulty beliefs that are surprisingly widespread—and look to God's Word alone for the facts. You will find the truth about common misperceptions like When I die, I'll go to sleep until the resurrection On my way to heaven I'll have to put in some time in purgatory Heaven will be boring with very little to do You don't need to guess about the future—God's Word is ready to inform your mind and settle your heart. Let this book guide you toward a deeper joy, faith, and understanding of eternity.

Journeys to Heaven and Hell

Journeys to Heaven and Hell PDF Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300265166
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
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.

Hell and its Afterlife

Hell and its Afterlife PDF Author: Margaret Toscano
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317122704
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
The notion of an infernal place of punishment for 'undesired' elements in human culture and human nature has a long history both as religious idea and as cultural metaphor. This book brings together a wide array of scholars who examine hell as an idea within the Christian tradition and its 'afterlife' in historical and contemporary imagination. Leading scholars grapple with the construction and meaning of hell in the past and investigate its modern utility as a means to describe what is perceived as horrific or undesirable in modern culture. While the idea of an infernal region of punishment was largely developed in the context of early Jewish and Christian religious culture, it remains a central belief for some Christians in the modern world. Hell's reception (its 'afterlife') in the modern world has extended hell's meaning beyond the religious realm; hell has become a pervasive image and metaphor in political rhetoric, in popular culture, and in the media. Bringing together scholars from a variety of fields to contribute to a wider understanding of this fascinating and important cultural idea, this book will appeal to readers from historical, religious, literary and cultural perspectives.

Pocket Guide to the Afterlife

Pocket Guide to the Afterlife PDF Author: Jason Boyett
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
ISBN: 9780470373118
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
"Fearless, deep, and snarky. And did I mention funny? Oh my goodness this guy is funny." —Dean Nelson, author, God Hides in Plain Sight, and director, Writer's Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Where do we go when we die? Will we have personal chats with God on fluffy clouds? What are the odds I will be devoured by a demon? Life's deepest mysteries question what happens when life is over. With Pocket Guide to the Afterlife, Jason Boyett becomes your tour guide to the Great Beyond. From the profound to the profane, from the light at the end of the tunnel to your ascension to the celestial void, here's everything you need to know this side of the everlasting Unknown, including What to expect upon arrival in destinations like Heaven, Purgatory, and the Chinvat Bridge Whether your understanding of the Christian Hell comes from the Bible or from an Italian poet Which dream scenarios you'll want to avoid because they predict your impending demise Why defibrillators are so important when it comes to having near-death experiences Pondering your eventual demise has never been so much fun.

Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell PDF Author: Emanuel Swedenborg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Future life
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description


The Penguin Book of Hell

The Penguin Book of Hell PDF Author: Scott G. Bruce
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143131621
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
"From the Bible through Dante and up to Treblinka and Guantánamo Bay, here is a rich source for nightmares." --The New York Times Book Review Three thousand years of visions of Hell, from the ancient Near East to modern America A Penguin Classic From the Hebrew Bible's shadowy realm of Sheol to twenty-first-century visions of Hell on earth, The Penguin Book of Hell takes us through three thousand years of eternal damnation. Along the way, you'll take a ferry ride with Aeneas to Hades, across the river Acheron; meet the Devil as imagined by a twelfth-century Irish monk--a monster with a thousand giant hands; wander the nine circles of Hell in Dante's Inferno, in which gluttons, liars, heretics, murderers, and hypocrites are made to endure crime-appropriate torture; and witness the debates that raged in Victorian England when new scientific advances cast doubt on the idea of an eternal hereafter. Drawing upon religious poetry, epics, theological treatises, stories of miracles, and accounts of saints' lives, this fascinating volume of hellscapes illuminates how Hell has long haunted us, in both life and death. For more than seventy-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 2,000 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Hell Hath No Fury

Hell Hath No Fury PDF Author: Meghan R. Henning
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300262663
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
The first major book to examine ancient Christian literature on hell through the lenses of gender and disability studies Throughout the Christian tradition, descriptions of hell’s fiery torments have shaped contemporary notions of the afterlife, divine justice, and physical suffering. But rarely do we consider the roots of such conceptions, which originate in a group of understudied ancient texts: the early Christian apocalypses. In this pioneering study, Meghan Henning illuminates how the bodies that populate hell in early Christian literature—largely those of women, enslaved persons, and individuals with disabilities—are punished after death in spaces that mirror real carceral spaces, effectually criminalizing those bodies on earth. Contextualizing the apocalypses alongside ancient medical texts, inscriptions, philosophy, and patristic writings, this book demonstrates the ways that Christian depictions of hell intensified and preserved ancient notions of gender and bodily normativity that continue to inform Christian identity.