Representations of the Afterlife in Luke-Acts Contributor(s): Somov, Alexey (Author), Labahn, Michael (Editor), Keith, Chris (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0567667111 ISBN-13: 9780567667113 Publisher: T&T Clark OUR PRICE: $173.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: February 2017 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Religion | Biblical Studies - New Testament - Jesus, The Gospels & Acts |
Dewey: 226.406 |
LCCN: 2016050093 |
Series: Library of New Testament Studies |
Physical Information: 1" H x 6.2" W x 9.3" (1.25 lbs) 256 pages |
Themes: - Religious Orientation - Christian |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Questions regarding the afterlife are many, and the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts pay a great deal of attention to them: why does Luke speak about several different forms of the afterlife? Why is resurrection described as a person's transformation into an angelic being? How many abodes are appointed for the righteous and the wicked after death? Alexey Somov addresses these queries in relation to the apparent confusion and variety found in the text, and in respect of the interrelatedness of these issues, and their connection with other eschatological issues in Luke-Acts, and in relation to the wider cultural context of the Mediterranean world to which Luke belonged. Every culture expresses its beliefs by means of special metaphors that allow it to comprehend supernatural realities in terms of everyday experience. Belief in the afterlife was part of this metaphorical system which Luke shared with the ancient eastern Mediterranean culture. Somov takes his analysis one step further by applying Cognitive Metaphor Theory to selected metaphorical aspects of the afterlife. While the inconsistencies and incoherence of the combined metaphors may seem jarring to a contemporary Western reader, Somov's reading enables a recognition of the specific religious metaphors used, which for Luke would have been current and widely accepted. |
Contributor Bio(s): Keith, Chris: - Chris Keith is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity and Director of the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St. Mary's University College, Twickenham, UK. He is the author of The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John and the Literacy of Jesus, a winner of the 2010 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and Jesus' Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee. He is also the co-editor of Jesus among Friends and Enemies: A Historical and Literary Introduction to Jesus in the Gospels, and was recently named a 2012 Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar. |