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Journeys to heaven and hell : tours of the afterlife in early Christian tradition
Author
Title
Journeys to heaven and hell : tours of the afterlife in early Christian tradition / Bart D. Ehrman.
ISBN
9780300257007
0300257007
Publication
New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, [2022]
Copyright Notice Date
©2022
Physical Description
xii, 328 pages ; 25 cm
Summary
"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 in the accepted doctrines of heaven, hell, and purgatory"--Dust jacket flap.
Format
Books
Language
English
Added to Catalog
May 26, 2022
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-305) and index.
Contents
The well-trodden paths
The realities of death and the meaning of life I: journeys to Hades in Homer and Virgil
The realities of death and the meaning of life II: Jewish and Christian journeys
Incentives from the world beyond: Christian ethics and evangelism
The afterlife of afterlives: editorial interventions and Christology
The justice and mercy of God in textual conflict
The power of Christ and the harrowing of hell.
Subjects
Genre/Form
Informational works.
Bookmark As
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