http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/908791927

The human body in death and resurrection

There is surely nothing more numinous or pivotal in life than the experience of death and mortality, and it is necessary for culture and religion to deal with this experience as adequately as possible. Moreover, the treatment of persons dying, the care of corpses, and also hopes in a "life" or a comparable "existence" after death often form decisive keys to the understanding of anthropological presuppositions of the respective social, cultural and religious contexts. The articles in this volume deal with the following questions: What role does human corporality play in the context of dying, death, and resurrection in ancient Judaism, early Christianity and in their respective religious and cultural contexts? What conclusions do the statements about the body, but also the dealing with the body allow regarding the respective anthropological ideas in concrete social, cultural and religious contexts? The main focus of the volume lies on early Jewish and ancient Christian texts of the 3rd century B.C.E. until the 3rd century C.E. Some essays, however, deal with other traditions like the religion of Ptolemaic Egypt, Zoroastrism or ancient Gnosis.

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