The Book Depository Heaven and Hell by Bart D. Ehrman
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Price: £20.00
Brand: The Book Depository
Description: Heaven and Hell : Hardback : Oneworld Publications : 9781786077202 : : 02 Apr 2020 : The 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?.
Category: Books
Merchant: The Book Depository
Product ID: 9781786077202
MPN: 9781786077202
GTIN: 9781786077202
Author: markr
Rating: 5
Review: I found this to be a fascinating review of how belief in heaven and hell developed before and after the life of Jesus. The author, Bart Ehrman, looks at belief in what happens after we die - from the ancient Greeks and Babylon to the present day. He makes clear that the idea of instant judgement at the point of death is a relatively new concept - Jesus talked of death being death until the second coming at which point the dead would be raised bodily and judged - with some consigned to oblivion ( not eternal torment)- and some raised to heaven to live in gold walled splendour - and bodily, not just the soul. The concept of purgatory is a medieval development - seemingly to address the issue about fairness - what happens to those of us - nearly all of us surely - who are neither all bad or all good. The answer was to be found in purgatory - a scouring, that could be reduced by prayers delivered by the still living. The book is supported by numerous biblical quotations, the writings of numerous philosophers and scholars from Plato to Augustine, and the beliefs of Christians over the centuries and today. I found all of this to be fascinating, and superbly written. I also enjoyed the afterword which I found very reassuring and consistent with the comfort given to me as as a small boy by my father. If we don't remember anything about the time before we were born, and that's ok, not knowing anything after we cease to exist will be equally OK. Sad to us now, but OK then. And that's the worst case - maybe there is more, and that will be even better. Fascinating reading. The author was new to me but I will be sure to read more of his work very soon
Author: RB
Rating: 3
Review: This covers many sources relevant to the history of the Western afterlife but is marred by its token (less than a page) coverage of Zoroastrianism, a Persian religion that proposed final judgment with a choice between heaven and hell. Even if the direct influence on Jewish thought following the Babylonian exile is debatable (and it cannot be debated in less than a page), there was another route, namely the influence on Greek thought following the Persian miltary campaigns against Greece (the evolution of Greek thought post-Homer is noted but the likely roots are not examined). This follows a tendency to isolate Western thought as independent and in contrast to Eastern influences, whereas in practice there was continuous cultural diffusion.
