Overview
- Provides a comprehensive critical study of the problematic origins and character of the Christian belief in the resurrection of the dead, the immortality of the soul, and the prospect of reward and punishment in the afterlife
- Explores the significant role of Greek philosophy in Christian thinking about human nature and the relation of body and soul
- Uses an interdisciplinary approach
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About this book
In this book, Paul Crittenden offers a critical guide to the problematic origins of biblical teaching about the afterlife and the way in which it was subsequently developed by Church authorities and theologians—Origen, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas in particular. In the post–Reformation era the focus falls on the challenges set by modern secularism. The tradition encompasses a body of interconnected themes: an apocalyptic war in which the Kingdom of God triumphs over Satan’s powers of darkness; salvation in Christ; the immortality of the soul; and finally the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment, ratifying an afterlife of eternal bliss for the morally good and punishment in hell for wrongdoers. The critique questions these beliefs on evidential, ethical, and philosophical grounds. The argument overall is that what lies beyond death is beyond knowledge. The one fundamental truth that can be distilled from the once compelling body of Christian eschatological belief—for believers and unbelievers alike—is the importance of living ethically.
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Keywords
Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Paul Crittenden is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, Australia. He is the author of Learning to Be Moral (1990), Changing Orders (2008), Sartre in Search of an Ethics (2009), and Reason, Will and Emotion (2012).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Life Hereafter
Book Subtitle: The Rise and Decline of a Tradition
Authors: Paul Crittenden
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54279-5
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-54278-8Published: 25 October 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-54281-8Published: 26 October 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-54279-5Published: 24 October 2020
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 307
Topics: Christian Theology, History of Philosophy, History of Religion