Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
After much to and fro, I am ready to start a discussion of Heaven and Hell by Bible scholar Bart Ehrman. It is a fascinating look at how views of the afterlife in Greek and Jewish cultures contributed to the development of the Christian ideas around Heaven and Hell.
I currently plan to open this thread on February 11 and then try to cover a chapter (or topic) a week. Some topics, such as the Greek and earlier ideas of the afterlife, span a couple chapters so I may decide to go by topic rather than chapter in these cases.
There are some basic rules I would like to follow:
The aforementioned post with some interviews and lectures related to the book.
I currently plan to open this thread on February 11 and then try to cover a chapter (or topic) a week. Some topics, such as the Greek and earlier ideas of the afterlife, span a couple chapters so I may decide to go by topic rather than chapter in these cases.
There are some basic rules I would like to follow:
- This is a book discussion. Therefore, I expect that people participating will be reading the book or be familiar with its ideas. I will link in a thread where I posted a couple interviews with Ehrman about the book.
- This is not about whether Heaven and Hell are real. Like the book itself, we are not going to argue for or against the existence of an afterlife, but look at how ideas about the afterlife developed in Christianity and how that might impact our beliefs today.
- Following from that, preaching is not welcome. We are discussing ideas here, talking TO each other not AT each other. If you don't know the difference, learn it or stay out.
- This being a thread about a scholarly approach to the history of the afterlife, the Bible is going to be regarded and discussed as a human document by human hands reflecting human experience. It is the core source for much of the discussion not because it is "God's Word/Truth" but because it is where we find much of the beliefs being discussed. Using the Bible as a weapon or sledgehammer is discouraged.
- We will be following the rules of the board and, in particular, keeping things as civil as possible.
The aforementioned post with some interviews and lectures related to the book.
How to read/study: Heaven and Hell : A History of the Afterlife by Bart Ehrman
As mentioned in some threads already, I have been reading Heaven & Hell : A History of the Afterlife by Bart Ehrman. Short version is that he looks at the idea of an afterlife divided between a paradise and a place of torment and looks at the views of the afterlife in Western culture and...
www.wondercafe2.ca
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