Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion (Hardcover)

by Alan F. Segal (Author) "DESERVEDLY OR NOT, ancient Egypt is known as a culture obsessed by the afterlife..." (more)
Key Phrases: religiously altered states, hekhaloth literature, frasho kereti, New Testament, Hebrew Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This monumental study combines history, geography, mythology, archaeology and anthropology with biblical text analysis. Segal, a professor of Jewish studies at Barnard College, spent 10 years on this project, but the erudition he displays is undoubtedly the result of a lifetime of scholarship. In every culture, people ask the same fundamental questions about their existence, including "what happens after we die?" Although Segal maintains that answers to that question lie "beyond confirmation or disconfirmation in the scientific sense," he offers a comprehensive overview of how the afterlife is understood in the three main Western religions. He thoroughly examines early influences from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Canaan, Iran and Greece, then analyzes Jewish views as expressed in the first and second temple periods, the book of Daniel, the Dead Sea scrolls and writings from and about New Testament times, the early rabbis, mysticism and fundamentalism. For Christianity, systematic attention is given to Paul, the Gospels, the pseudepigraphic literature and the Church Fathers. Segal also scans Muslim beliefs as they appear in the Qur'an and the writings of Shi'a mystics and modern fundamentalists. The introductory and concluding chapters provide the essence of the presentation, enlivened by quotations from Shakespeare. Impatient readers may begin with these two chapters as a guide to determining which other sections of the book warrant further scrutiny. Careful readers, however, will take the trouble and the time to pore over this impressive contribution to our understanding of human belief and behavior.
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Review
Praise for Alan F. Segal’s Paul the Convert

“Bold and imaginative.” —Paula Fredriksen, Books & Religion

“Alan Segal’s new book challenges Jewish and Christian scholars alike to take a fresh look at this well-educated man, arguing not only that it is impossible to understand Paul’s Christian writings without understanding first-century Judaism but that early Hellenistic Judaism is itself illuminated by Paul, since he was one of only two Pharisees to have left any personal writings at all.” —The Washington Post Book World

“This is a thoughtful, demanding book that the serious student of Paul will find well worth the effort.” —Bible Today

“Segal’s work abounds in fresh insights for students of Paul.” —F. F. Bruce, American Historical Review

“A brilliantly argued book. . . . Paul is neither hero nor villain for Segal but a fascinating historical and religious character, from whom we can learn much about both Judaism and Christianity. . . . I found myself thoroughly sympathetic to Segal’s portrayal of Paul. More than that, I found myself convinced.” —J. Christian Wilson, The Christian Century

“Elegantly produced. . . . Segal considers Paul’s Pharisaic education and training as well as the Jewish context of his religious struggle after he became a Christian. He treats Paul as a Jew, a convert, and an apostle, and places his conversion from Pharisaism to Christianity in the context of his society and his mission to the Gentiles.” —America


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Product Details

• Hardcover: 880 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Religion (July 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385422997
• ISBN-13: 978-0385422994
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.7 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,655 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Skeleton Key to the Western Mind, January 18, 2005

By	JOHN J. MCGRAW "author of Brain & Belief" (Solana Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just finished reading Professor Segal's tome, "Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion." He has done a superb job at summarizing (yes, 700 pages is but a summary of this vast subject) these notions, at least as they appear in the Western world.

This subject has fascinated me for a long time but I began to study it more carefully five years ago. At that time, I had begun work on my book, "Brain & Belief: An Exploration of the Human Soul," and wanted to juxtapose ideas of the `soul' with our current notions of the mind as derived from the brain sciences. It was quite a surprise to discover that no single text existed that summarized ideas about the soul. The best resource was a prolonged article in Mircea Eliade's excellent Encyclopedia of Religion. Besides that, there were some specialized accounts about Greek ideas of the soul, Egyptian ideas of the soul, etc. but nothing that put them into a larger context outside of their particular cultures. To truly provide context, you would need to show how our most ancient ideas about the mind and about the afterlife came about, how they took priority within the Western mindset, and then how they changed over the last two to three thousand years. A monumental project, to be sure, but one that should have existed somewhere within a university library. Sadly, this was not the case.

It became a personal duty to provide at least a basic summary and reading guide for this subject. So in my 400 page work I devoted the first 100 pages to a history of the soul and spent another 20 or so pages discussing ideas of the afterlife at a later point. This was barely sufficient to provide a set of key points.

The key points which I chose to highlight and which Professor Segal reviews in much greater detail include the idea that the core of Western spirituality and philosophy-the idea of a disembodied soul-is largely the product of Plato's influence. Especially in the "Phaedo," Plato discusses the soul and its immortality. Plato got the lion's share of these ideas from Orphism (and its variant, Pythagoreanism). In turn, it is likely that these `religions' got their ideas from shamanic traditions common in prehistorical European culture. From these ancient ideas -- as articulated in the Platonic works -- came the driving force of the soul and the afterlife in the Christian and Muslim faiths. But, added to the notion of a disembodied soul were ideas about physical resurrection.

Ideas about resurrection derived from Zoroastrianism and (at least it is my contention) it is from Zoroastrianism that ancient Judaism took its ideas of resurrection (esp. in Daniel). Around the time of Jesus, then, the previously afterlife-devoid Jewish faith (First Temple Judaism vs. Second Temple Judaism) had started to steep in Platonic and Zoroastrian influences. One must not forget that in Jesus' time, Judea was part of the Roman Empire and that the Roman Empire was a cultural cosmopolis of the highest order, the one great city. At any given marketplace, one might discuss Plato, hear something about the mystery religions, and consider the moral rectitude of the Jews' single god. Through the genius of Christianity and its apologizers the incompatible ideas of physical resurrection and the disembodied soul essentially fused (or at least transmitted themselves in an uneasy alliance from generation to generation).

Reading the New Testament leads to an uncertainty about what to expect from Christian salvation: physical resurrection at the end of days or immediate afterlife entrance (thanks to the soul) at each individual's bodily death. Most people are fairly unappreciative of the explicitness of resurrection in the New Testament and thus imagine their loved ones' souls immediately going to heaven. In short, soul based ideologies have achieved the most popularity. Plato's influence has outshone all others.

It is a personal joy to see that Professor Segal's historical research generally follows the contours of this outline. "Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion" provides generous details about each and every aspect of Greek (esp. Platonic), Jewish, Christian, and Muslim ideas about the afterlife and-by necessity-discusses each of these traditions' ideas about the soul. The book, though massive, is a wonderful read and sure to quicken a few important debates.

To understand, at least on a summary level, the historical background of these ideas is of the utmost importance for understanding the history of the Western world. And because history (memory) is the core of personality, one must understand these issues to gain insight into our present world and its entrenched issues. From the trade center bombings, to stem cell debates, to environmental policy, one cannot truly understand the political perspectives of all sides until one appreciates these ideas about the soul and about the `end' or `aim' of human existence, ideas about the afterlife. This book is a must read and if the subject titillates, you might move on to "Brain & Belief" as a follow up.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Weighty Tome, September 21, 2005

By	Bu-chan (Aotearoa) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Alan F. Segal's book "Life After Death" is my first read of his work, and certainly the most massive book I have read in some time. Considering the sheer scope of the topic Segal has attempted to cover, the size of the book should come as no surprise. However, the physical weight is where the "weightiness" ends.

Now, before you freak out about over 700 pages of text on life after death, it should be emphasised that Segal writes in a very accessible and easy going manner. A few of the words he uses require a dictionary, (at least, I needed one), but the incidence of this was not a burden. Segal keeps you moving and presents a great level of quotation from ancient sources to highlight his points. His manner and style of presentation and discussion are absolutely fantastic.

Segal presents the beliefs of different cultures from a more social viewpoint than anything, and deals with how these beliefs can illustrate what the people thought of about themselves and the world about them. What you end up with is a very interesting discussion not just on life after death, but also some of the political, cultural and social concerns that went into them. This makes for a very well-rounded discussion.

Segal takes you through various cultures and civilisations, and throughout he inter-connects various ideas between them to show how they illustrate each other by contrast or simularity. These cultures include chapters on Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Canaan, Israelite, (broken into various chapters), and much more, including detailed chapters on Christian views and their development through the centuries.

This book is really a great overview of the topic, and it is relatively easy to find from Segal's referencing further material for more specific reading. Segal has done exceptionally well to squeeze such a vast topic into about 750 well-written and dynamic pages.

This book gets a big "thumbs-up" from me. I will certainly be reading more of Segal's work in the future.

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Tour De Force On The Hereafter In Western Religion, July 16, 2004

By	Norman F. Birnberg (Long Beach, Ca USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Alan Segal's tour de force is in the French tradition of the "longue duree" approach to social history. "Life After Death" follows the late Phillippe Aries's magisterial "The Hour Of Our Death" back in the 1980s but where it differs from its predecessor is its not concerned so much with the "ars moriendi," the so called art of dying as it is with how Western religions and philosophies have dealt with the hereafter down through the ages. At nearly 800 pages its an exhaustive treatment on a subject people have speculated on since the dawn of civilization and when you finish it, its clear most of mankind will never be reconciled to the notion this life is all there is. Highly recommended reading.