Conceptions of Afterlife in Jewish Inscriptions
Conceptions of Afterlife in Jewish Inscriptions

Author: Joseph S. Park

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9783161473739

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Joseph S. Park examines the various indications of belief in or denial of afterlife in the Jewish funerary inscriptions found throughout the Mediterranean world, mostly during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. He reveals a wide variety of conceptions of and attitudes toward death and afterlife. Besides such well-known ideas as resurrection and the peaceful state of the deceased prior to it, there also seem to be indications of a denial of meaningful afterlife, often associated with a generally Sadducean alignment on the part of the deceased.These findings are then compared with corresponding indications in the Pauline epistles. The comparison shows, after taking into account the basic difference in purpose between the two types of evidence, a substantial agreement, and moreover seems to shed light on some aspects of the interpretation of Paul. For example, the indications of a denial of afterlife in the inscriptions points to the possibility of a similar background for those who are said in 1 Corinthians 15 to deny the resurrection. In addition to providing new insights in both areas in reference to afterlife beliefs, this comparison also sheds some light on the larger methodological issues affecting both bodies of evidence. In addition to specific implications such as this, Joseph S. Park demonstrates that both the Jewish inscriptions and Paul are best interpreted in reference to a background of ideas which is neither strictly Jewish nor pagan, but the result of free interaction between the two. This conclusion has obvious implications for the wider questions of Judaism and hellenization.

Resurrection
Resurrection

Author: James H. Charlesworth

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 0567027481

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A fresh look a the concept of resurrection in Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and non-canonical texts. >

The Book of Tobit: Text, Tradition, Theology
The Book of Tobit: Text, Tradition, Theology

Author: Géza Xeravits

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2005-07-01

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9047415329

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This collected volume is one of the first contributions focusing entirely on the Book of Tobit. It treats questions of text, underlying traditions and theological questions of the book by renowned international scholars of the field.

Afterlife and Resurrection Beliefs in the Apocrypha and Apocalyptic Literature
Afterlife and Resurrection Beliefs in the Apocrypha and Apocalyptic Literature

Author: Jan Age Sigvartsen

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-09-19

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 0567685527

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Jan A. Sigvartsen seeks to examine the immense interest in life after death, and speculation about the fates awaiting both the righteous and the wicked, that proliferated in the Second Temple period. In this volume Sigvartsen explores the Apocrypha and the apocalyptic writings in the Pseudepigrapha. He identifies the numerous afterlife and resurrection beliefs and presents an analysis that enables readers to easily understand and compare the wide-ranging beliefs regarding the afterlife that these texts hold. A careful reading of these resurrection passages, including passages appearing in Sirach, Maccabees, the Sibylline Oracles and the Ezra texts, reveals that most of the distinct views on life-after-death, regardless of their complexity, show little evidence of systematic development relational to one another, and are often supported by several key passages or shared motifs from texts that later became a part of the TaNaKh. Sigvartsen also highlights the factors that may have influenced the development of so many different resurrection beliefs; including anthropology, the nature of the soul, the scope of the resurrection, the number and function of judgments, and the final destination of the righteous and the wicked. Sigvartsen's study provides a deeper understanding of how the “TaNaKh” was read by different communities during this important period, and the role it played in the development of the resurrection belief – a central article of faith in both Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.

Death and the Afterlife in the New Testament
Death and the Afterlife in the New Testament

Author: Jaime Clark-Soles

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2006-11-15

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0567246523

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Clark-Soles began this project in order to answer the question, "What exactly does the New Testament say about death and afterlife?" It turns out that it says both more and less than one might hope or expect. By more, she means that every time the subject of death and what happens after death arises, it is clear that the authors' interests far exceed answering that single question. Their comments emerge from the concerns and experiences of living Christian communities, they relate to a larger theological and pastoral agenda, and their primary focus remains life on earth and the proper living of it. The texts say less than one may hope because no author sets out to answer my question directly. There is no systematic theology in the New Testament regarding death and aftelife. Certainly resurrection appears throughout, though differently emphasized and interpreted. Beyond that, the fascinating aspects of the question are in the details of the texts. 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? Others have sought to unify the New Testament witness, glossing over the individual pictures presented by the New Testament authors. Clark-Soles revels in the snapshots of the individuals and am less interested in the family photo. Clark-Soles inquires into the specific language that each author uses regarding death and afterlife. She explores anthropology, cosmology, eschatology, and, where relevant, theology and Christology. Finally, Clark-Soles suggests ways that the stated views function in each situation.

On the Boundaries of Talmudic Prayer
On the Boundaries of Talmudic Prayer

Author: Yehuda Septimus

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2015-05-28

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9783161534218

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The English term "prayer" is usually understood as communication with God or the gods. Scholars of Jewish ritual until now have accepted this characterization and applied it to Jewish tefillah. Does rabbinic prayer indeed necessarily entail second-person address to God, as many scholars of rabbinic prayer to this point have presumed? In this work, Yehuda Septimus investigates a boundary phenomenon of talmudic prayer - ritual speech with addressees other than God. The book represents a fresh look at the possible range of performances undertaken by talmudic ritual prayer. Moreover, it places that range of performances into the historical context of the rapid emergence of prayer as the centerpiece of Jewish worship in the first half of the first millennium CE.

Death in Jewish Life
Death in Jewish Life

Author: Stefan C. Reif

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2014-08-27

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 3110377489

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Jewish customs and traditions about death, burial and mourning are numerous, diverse and intriguing. They are considered by many to have a respectable pedigree that goes back to the earliest rabbinic period. In order to examine the accurate historical origins of many of them, an international conference was held at Tel Aviv University in 2010 and experts dealt with many aspects of the topic. This volume includes most of the papers given then, as well as a few added later. What emerges are a wealth of fresh material and perspectives, as well as the realization that the high Middle Ages saw a set of exceptional innovations, some of which later became central to traditional Judaism while others were gradually abandoned. Were these innovations influenced by Christian practice? Which prayers and poems reflect these innovations? What do the sources tell us about changing attitudes to death and life-after death? Are tombstones an important guide to historical developments? Answers to these questions are to be found in this unusual, illuminating and readable collection of essays that have been well documented, carefully edited and well indexed.

Priests in Exile
Priests in Exile

Author: Meron M. Piotrkowski

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2019-06-04

Total Pages: 544

ISBN-13: 3110593351

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Priests in Exile is the first comprehensive scholarly opus in English to reconstruct the history of the mysterious Temple of Onias, a Jewish temple built by a Jerusalemite high priest in his Egyptian exile that functioned in parallel with the Temple of Jerusalem. Piotrkowski’s book addresses a topic that is mysterious, important and anomalous: a Jewish community of mercenary priests in the (Egyptian) Diaspora in which the priestly sacrificial ritual was carried out daily over a period of more than two hundred years until the first century CE, outlasting the Jerusalem Temple by about three years. Although the book focuses on the very circumscribed topic of the parallel Temple it casts a wide net, placing the story in the context of Jewish Diaspora life in ancient times. Ancient topics and texts are brought to bear, including papyri, epigraphy, archaeology, as well as the modern literature. Piotrkowski throws new light on a fascinating episode of ancient Jewish history that is usually left in the dark.

Representations of the Afterlife in Luke-Acts
Representations of the Afterlife in Luke-Acts

Author: Alexey Somov

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-02-09

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 056766712X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Questions regarding the afterlife are many, and the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts pay a great deal of attention to them: why does Luke speak about several different forms of the afterlife? Why is resurrection described as a person's transformation into an angelic being? How many abodes are appointed for the righteous and the wicked after death? Alexey Somov addresses these queries in relation to the apparent confusion and variety found in the text, and in respect of the interrelatedness of these issues, and their connection with other eschatological issues in Luke-Acts, and in relation to the wider cultural context of the Mediterranean world to which Luke belonged. Every culture expresses its beliefs by means of special metaphors that allow it to comprehend supernatural realities in terms of everyday experience. Belief in the afterlife was part of this metaphorical system which Luke shared with the ancient eastern Mediterranean culture. Somov takes his analysis one step further by applying Cognitive Metaphor Theory to selected metaphorical aspects of the afterlife. While the inconsistencies and incoherence of the combined metaphors may seem jarring to a contemporary Western reader, Somov's reading enables a recognition of the specific religious metaphors used, which for Luke would have been current and widely accepted.

Resurrection of the Dead in Early Judaism, 200 BCE-CE 200
Resurrection of the Dead in Early Judaism, 200 BCE-CE 200

Author: Casey Deryl Elledge

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 0199640416

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Resurrection of the dead represents one of the more enigmatic beliefs of Western religions to many modern readers. In this volume, C. D. Elledge offers an interpretation of some of the earliest literature within Judaism that exhibits a confident hope in resurrection. He not only aids the study of early Jewish literature itself, but expands contemporary knowledge of some of the earliest expressions of a hope that would become increasingly meaningful in later Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Elledge focuses on resurrection in the latest writings of the Hebrew Bible, the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the writings of other Hellenistic Jewish authors. He also incorporates later rabbinic writings, early Christian sources, and inscriptions, as they shed additional light upon select features of the evidence in question. This allows for a deeper look into how particular literary works utilized the discourse of resurrection, while also retaining larger comparative insights into what these materials may teach us about the gradual flourishing of resurrection within its early Jewish environment. Individual chapters balance a more categorical/comparative approach to the problems raised by resurrection (definitions, diverse conceptions, historical origins, strategies of legitimation) with a more specific focus on particular pieces of the early Jewish evidence (1 Enoch, Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus). Resurrection of the Dead in Early Judaism, 200 BCE-CE 200 provides a treatment of resurrection that informs the study of early Jewish theologies, as well as their later reinterpretations within Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity.