Heavenly Realms and Earthly Realities in Late Antique Religions [Hardcover]

Ra'anan S. Boustan (Editor), Annette Yoshiko Reed (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521831024 | ISBN-13: 978-0521831024 | Publication Date: August 16, 2004

The concept of heaven occupied a special place in the Late Antique imagination, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in the Greco-Roman religious, philosophical, scientific, and "magical" traditions. Drawing upon the expertise of scholars of Classics, Ancient History, Jewish Studies, and Patristics, this volume explores the different functions of heavenly imagery in different texts and traditions in order to map the patterns of unity and diversity within the religious landscape of Late Antiquity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Warm praise for the genesis of this volume...It is good to have such a rich collection of uniformly strong essays to attentive to the texts of the diverse cultures and religions of classical antiquity." - c. Robert Phillips, III, Lehigh University

Book Description

The idea of heaven held a special place in the late antique imagination, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in the Greco-Roman religious, philosophical, scientific, and "magical" traditions. Drawing upon the expertise of scholars of Classics, Ancient History, Jewish Studies, and Patristics, this volume explores the different functions of heavenly imagery in different texts and traditions in order to map the patterns of unity and diversity within the religious landscape of Late Antiquity.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (August 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521831024
• ISBN-13: 978-0521831024
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #957,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Annette Yoshiko Reed is M. Mark and Esther K. Watkins Assistant Professor in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania; she is part of the core faculty of the Department of Religious Studies, as well as a member of the Jewish Studies Program and Graduate Group in Ancient History. After undergraduate studies at McGill University (BA 1997) and graduate studies at Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S. 1999) and Princeton University (M.A. 2001; Ph.D. 2002), Prof. Reed taught in the Department of Religious Studies at McMaster University until 2007, when she joined the Penn faculty. Her research spans Second Temple Judaism, early Christianity, and Jewish/Christian relations in Late Antiquity. Particular areas of interest are angelology and demonology; the redeployment of Second Temple Jewish traditions in late antique Judaism and Christianity; and the parallels and overlaps between Jewish and Christian self-definition in Late Antiquity. In much of her work, these issues are addressed through a focus on biblical interpretation -- broadly construed to include the composition and reception of parabiblical literature, the transmission and translation of biblical texts, the formation of canons, and the creation of historiographical systems based on biblical narratives. She is the coordinator of the Philadelphia Seminar of Christian Origins, as well as one of the co-chairs, with Zuleika Rodgers, of the Society of Biblical Literature's Hellenistic Judaism Section and a member of the Editorial Board of the book series Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism, published by Mohr Siebeck.