num_pages: 866
description: A work of social history, Life After Death illuminates different ways ancient civilizations grappled with the question of what exactly happens to the dead. Segal weaves together biblical &amp; literary scholarship, sociology, history &amp; philosophy. A scholar, he examines the maps of the afterlife found in Western religious texts &amp; reveals not only what various cultures believed but how their notions reflected their societies' realities &amp; ideals, &amp; why those beliefs changed over time. He maintains that the afterlife is the mirror in which a society arranges its concept of the self. The composition process for Judaism, Xianity &amp; Islam begins in grief &amp; ends in the victory of the self over death. Arguing that in all religious traditions the afterlife represents the ultimate reward for the good, he combines historical &amp; anthropological data with insights gleaned from religious &amp; philosophical writings to explain the following mysteries: why Egyptians insisted on a heavenly afterlife, while the body was embalmed in a tomb; why Babylonians viewed the dead as living in underground prisons; why Hebrews remained silent about life after death during the 1st Temple period, yet embraced it in the 2nd Temple period (534 BCE-70 CE); &amp; why Xianity placed the afterlife in the center of its belief system. He discusses the inner dialogs &amp; arguments within Judaism &amp; Xianity, showing the underlying dynamic behind them, as well as the ideas marking the differences between the two. In an examination of the influence of biblical views of heaven &amp; martyrdom on Islamic beliefs, he offers a perspective on the current rise of Islamic fundamentalism. In tracing the organic, historical relationships between sacred texts &amp; communities of belief &amp; comparing the visions of life after death that have emerged historically, he sheds light on the intimate connections between afterlife notions, the societies that produced them &amp; the search for life's meaning.
language: English
title: Life after Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion
titlecomplete: Life after Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion
genres: Christianity, History, Philosophy, Religion, Theology, Sociology, Islam, Spirituality, Death, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 112
publisher: Doubleday (NY)