Name: Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife
Price: 21.01 EUR
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)
Author: Ehrman, Bart D.
ISBN: 9781501136740

portada Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife

Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife

Type

Physical Book

Author

Bart D. Ehrman

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Year

2021

Language

English

Pages

352

Format

Paperback

Dimensions

21.1 x 13.7 x 2.5 cm

Weight

0.27 kg.

ISBN13

9781501136740

Synopsis "Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife "

A New York Times bestselling historian of early Christianity takes on two of the most gripping questions of human existence: where did the ideas of heaven and hell come from and why do they endure? What happens when we die? A recent Pew Research poll showed that 72% of Americans believe in a literal heaven and 58% believe in a literal hell. Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian and assume they are the age-old teachings of the Bible. But eternal rewards and punishments are found nowhere in the Old Testament and are not what Jesus or his disciples taught. So where did these ideas come from? In this "eloquent understanding of how death is viewed through many spiritual traditions" (Publishers Weekly, starred review), Bart Ehrman 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. He discusses ancient guided tours of heaven and hell, in which a living person observes the sublime blessings of heaven for those who are saved and the horrifying torments of hell for those who are damned. Some of these accounts take the form of near death experiences, the oldest on record, with intriguing similarities to those reported today. One of Ehrman's startling conclusions is that there never was a single Greek, Jewish, or Christian understanding of the afterlife, but numerous competing views. Moreover, these views did not come from nowhere; they were intimately connected with the social, cultural, and historical worlds out of which they emerged. Only later, in the early Christian centuries, did they develop into notions of eternal bliss or damnation widely accepted today. In this "elegant history" (The New Yorker), Ehrman helps us reflect on where our ideas of the afterlife come from. With his "richly layered-narrative" (The Boston Globe) he assures us that even if there may be something to hope for when we die, there certainly is nothing to fear.

Customers reviews

David Rodríguez Saturday, December 11, 2021
Verified Purchase
En este libro, el Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, uno de los estudiosos de la Biblia más influyentes y reconocidos del mundo, hace un recuento acerca de los orígenes del cielo y del infierno en la literatura universal. Pasando por Platón, Homero, Virgilio, la Epopeya de Gilgamesh, entre otros textos y autores, el Dr. Ehrman nos explica cómo los conceptos del cielo y el infierno se infiltraron en el cristianismo, principalmente debido a la helenización de Israel tras la derrota de los persas a manos de Alejandro Magno, y cómo los conceptos platónicos de la inmortalidad del alma y su destino final terminaron reemplazando las creencias expresadas en la Biblia Hebrea. Es una lectura obligada para cualquier persona interesada en la historia de las religiones.
10

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Synopsis "Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife "

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