The Meanings of Death (Canto original series) [Paperback]

John Bowker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521447739 | ISBN-13: 978-0521447737 | Publication Date: March 26, 1993

In The Meanings of Death, John Bowker offers a major contribution to debates about the value of death and its place in both Western and Eastern religions. Examining the themes of friendship and sacrifice in the world's major religions, Bowker argues that there are points of vital contact with secular understandings of death, and that religious and secular attitudes can support and reinforce one another. An affirmative recovery of the value of death is important in our response to bereavement, and in the treatment of the terminally ill. By indicating how value can be maintained at the limit of life, without a search for illusory compensation in an afterlife beyond it, Bowker enriches our experience and understanding of the 'final question' in a way which is always sensitive and often moving.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With verve and understated humor, Bowker ( Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World , LJ 6/15/70) critiques reductionistic thinking about the relationship between religion and death. His specific target is the "compensatory" view, which holds that religion, arising out of the terror that accompanies the consciousness of death, posits a desirable existence beyond death that compensates for the pain and tragedies of life. His analysis of the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism uncovers much richer and more varied responses to the fact of death than the compensatory model allows. Bowker concludes with a call for the recognition and acceptance of death as the condition of the possibility of life as we know it. His largely convincing argument should find an audience in both public and academic libraries.
- Steve Gowler, Wofford Coll., Spartanburg, S.C.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"An engaging study of the religious meanings of death and an excellent illustration of 'comparative theology'." Religious Studies Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (March 26, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521447739
• ISBN-13: 978-0521447737
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #801,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)