Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Preface xv
Chapter 1 Guided Tours of Heaven and Hell 1
Chapter 2 The Fear of Death 17
Chapter 3 Life After Death Before There Was Life After Death 35
Chapter 4 Will Justice Be Done? The Rise of Postmortem Rewards and Punishments 57
Chapter 5 Death After Death in the Hebrew Bible 81
Chapter 6 Dead Bodies That Return to Life: The Resurrection in Ancient Israel 103
Chapter 7 Why Wait for the Resurrection? Life After Death Right After Death 127
Chapter 8 Jesus and the Afterlife 147
Chapter 9 The Afterlife After Jesus's Life: Paul the Apostle 169
Chapter 10 Altering the Views of Jesus: The Later Gospels 191
Chapter 11 The Afterlife Mysteries of the Book of Revelation 213
Chapter 12 Eternal Life in the Flesh 233
Chapter 13 Tactile Ecstasy and Torment in the Christian Hereafter 253
Chapter 14 Who Will Inherit the Blessings? Purgatory, Reincarnation, and Salvation for All 271
Afterword 291
Notes 297
Index 313