Journeys to Heaven and Hell

Ehrman, Bart D.

£25.00

A New York Times bestselling scholar’s illuminating exploration of the earliest Christian narrated journeys to heaven and hell

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Publish Date: 14/06/2022

Description

A New York Times bestselling 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.

Additional information

Weight 626 g
Dimensions 235 × 156 × 34 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

xii, 328

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

809.93382023 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K