Rachel Hallote's Book examins the archaeological, literary, and artistic evidence for the burial practices of biblical times, their antecedents, and successors.
In this “compulsively readable exploration of the tangled world of Christian origins” (Publishers Weekly), religious historian James Tabor illuminates the earliest years of Jesus’ teachings before Paul shaped them into the religion we know today. This fascinating examination of the earliest years of Christianity reveals how the man we call St. Paul shaped Christianity as we know it today. Historians know almost nothing about the two decades following the crucifixion of Jesus, when his followers regrouped and began to spread his message. During this time Paul joined the movement and began to preach to the gentiles. Using the oldest Christian documents that we have—the letters of Paul—as well as other early Christian sources, historian and scholar James Tabor reconstructs the origins of Christianity. Tabor shows how Paul separated himself from Peter and James to introduce his own version of Christianity, which would continue to develop independently of the message that Jesus, James, and Peter preached. Paul and Jesus illuminates the fascinating period of history when Christianity was born out of Judaism.
Philip S. Johnston examines Israelite views on death and afterlife as reflected in the Hebrew Bible and in material remains, and sets them in their cultural, literary and theological contexts.
What happens to the soul & spirit of unsaved people when they die? This refers to anyone who has not experienced spiritual regeneration through the gospel, which includes Old Testament saints. The Bible shows that the souls of these people go to (or went to) Sheol at the point of physical decease. Sheol corresponds to Hades. These souls will be resurrected from Sheol one day (Revelation 20:11-15), which is why Sheol/Hades is described as the "intermediate state" since it refers to the condition of unredeemed souls between physical death and later resurrection. So what's the state of souls in Sheol/Hades? Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus, if taken literal, suggests a conscious state where people either hang out in bliss with father Abraham or suffer constant fiery torment hoping for a mere drop of water for relief. SHEOL KNOW is an honest and thorough examination of the Scriptures to determine the precise nature of Sheol/Hades. Once you see what God's Word FULLY SAYS on the subject from Genesis to Revelation and not just a single tale that Jesus told, you'll see the truth and, as Jesus said, "the truth shall set you FREE."
There is no systematic theology in the New Testament regarding death and aftelife. Therefore, the appropriate question, as it turns out, is not: What does the New Testament say about death and afterlife, but what do various New Testament texts say about it? She explores anthropology, cosmology, eschatology, and, where relevant, theology and Christology.
Originally published in 1994, Jewish Views of the Afterlife is a classic study of ideas of afterlife and postmortem survival in Jewish tradition and mysticism. As both a scholar and pastoral counselor, Raphael guides the reader through 4,000 years of Jewish thought on the afterlife by investigating pertinent sacred texts produced in each era. Through a compilation of ideas found in the Bible, Apocrypha, rabbinic literature, medieval philosophy, medieval Midrash, Kabbalah, Hasidism and Yiddish literature, the reader learns how Judaism conceived of the fate of the individual after death throughout Jewish history. In addition, this book explores the implications of Jewish afterlife beliefs for a renewed understanding of traditional rituals of funeral, burial, shiva, kaddish and more. This newly released twenty-fifth anniversary edition presents new material on little-known Jewish mystical teachings on reincarnation, a chapter on “Spirits, Ghosts and Dybbuks in Yiddish Literature”, and a foreword by the renowned scholar of Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Arthur Green. Both historical and contemporary, this book provides a rich resource for scholars and laypeople and for teachers and students and makes an important Jewish contribution to the growing contemporary psychology of death and dying.
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
Many famous antique texts are misunderstood and many others have been completely dismissed, all because the literary style in which they were written is unfamiliar today. So argues Mary Douglas in this controversial study of ring composition, a technique which places the meaning of a text in the middle, framed by a beginning and ending in parallel. To read a ring composition in the modern linear fashion is to misinterpret it, Douglas contends, and today's scholars must reevaluate important antique texts from around the world. Found in the Bible and in writings from as far a field as Egypt, China, Indonesia, Greece, and Russia, ring composition is too widespread to have come from a single source. Does it perhaps derive from the way the brain works? What is its function in social contexts? The author examines ring composition, its principles and functions, in a cross-cultural way. She focuses on ring composition in Homer's Iliad, the Bible's book of Numbers, and, for a challenging modern example, Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, developing a persuasive argument for reconstruing famous books and rereading neglected ones.
"An emerging field of study that explores the Hispanic minority in the United States, Latino Studies is enriched by an interdisciplinary perspective. Historians, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, demographers, linguists, as well as religion, ethnicity, and culture scholars, among others, bring a varied, multifaceted approach to the understanding of a people whose roots are all over the Americas and whose permanent home is north of the Rio Grande. Oxford Bibliographies in Latino Studies offers an authoritative, trustworthy, and up-to-date intellectual map to this ever-changing discipline."--Editorial page.
In recent years, the disciplines of biblical studies and systematic theology have grown apart and largely lost the means of effective communication with one another. Unfortunately, this relational disconnect affects more than just these particular fields of study; it impacts the life of the church as a whole. The first St. Andrews Conference on Scripture and Theology brought leading biblical scholars and systematic theologians together in conversation, seeking to bridge the gap between them. Due to its profound influence on the development of Christian theology, John's Gospel is an ideal base for rekindling fruitful dialogue. The essays here -- taken from the inaugural conference -- consider this Gospel from many angles, addressing a number of key issues that arise from a theological discussion of this text: John's dualism in our pluralist context, historicity and testimony, the treatment of Judaism, Christology, and more. -This is the beginning of a conversation that can only be enriched by variety and experimentation. . . . It is a signpost . . . pointing towards a not-too-distant future when interdisciplinary conversation and collaboration between these two natural partners will become, no longer occasional and surprising, but a normal and essential element in the flourishing of both.- -- Richard Bauckham (from the introduction) Contributors: Paul N. Anderson Stephen C. Barton Richard Bauckham D. Jeffrey Bingham C. Stephen Evans Terry Griffith Martin Hengel Kasper Bro Larsen Tord Larsson Judith Lieu Andrew T. Lincoln Jurgen Moltmann Carl Mosser Stephen Motyer Murray Rae Anastasia Scrutton Marianne Meye Thompson Sigve K. Tonstad Alan J. Torrance Miroslav Volf Rowan Williams