What becomes of the wicked? Hell exile from God, subjection to
fire, worms, and darkness for centuries the idea has shaped the
dread of malefactors, the solace of victims, and the deterrence of
believers. Although we may associate the notion of hell with
Christian beliefs, its gradual emergence depended on conflicting
notions that pervaded the Mediterranean world more than a
millennium before the birth of Christ. Asking just why and how
belief in hell arose, Alan E. Bernstein takes us back to those
times and offers us a comparative view of the philosophy, poetry,
folklore, myth, and theology of that formative age.
Bernstein draws on sources from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia,
Greece, Rome, and Israel, as well as early Christian writings
through Augustine, in order to reconstruct the story of the
prophets, priests, poets, and charismatic leaders who fashioned
concepts of hell from an array of perspectives on death and
justice. The author traces hell's formation through close readings
of works including the epics of Homer and Vergil, the satires of
Lucian, the dialogues of Plato and Plutarch, the legends of Enoch,
the confessions of the Psalms, the prophecies of Isaiah, Ezechiel,
and Daniel, and the parables of Jesus. Reenacting lively debates
about the nature of hell among the common people and the elites of
diverse religious traditions, he provides new insight into the
social implications and the psychological consequences of different
visions of the afterlife.
This superb account of a central image in Western culture will
captivate readers interested in history, mythology, literature,
psychology, philosophy, and religion."
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