Dozens of books, articles, television shows, and films relating "near-death" experiences have appeared in the past decade. People who have survived a close brush with death reveal their extraordinary visions and ecstatic feelings at the moment they died, describing journeys through a tunnel to a realm of light, visual reviews of their past deeds, encounters with a benevolent spirit, and permanent transformation after returning to life. Carol Zaleski's Otherworld Journeys offers the most comprehensive treatment to date of the evidence surrounding near-death experiences. The first to place researchers' findings, first-person accounts, and possible medical or psychological explanations in historical perspective, she discusses how these materials reflect the influence of contemporary culture. She demonstrates that modern near-death reports belong to a vast family of otherworld journey tales, with examples in nearly every religious heritage. She identifies universal as well as culturally specific features by comparing near-death narratives in two distinct periods of Western society: medieval Christendom and twentieth-century secular America. This comparison reveals profound similarities, such as the life-review and the transforming after-effects of the vision, as well as striking contrasts, such as the absence of hell or punishment scenes from modern accounts. Mediating between the "debunkers" and the near-death researchers, Zaleski considers current efforts to explain near-death experience scientifically. She concludes by emphasizing the importance of the otherworld vision for understanding imaginative and religious experience in general.
"1101393591"
Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times
Dozens of books, articles, television shows, and films relating "near-death" experiences have appeared in the past decade. People who have survived a close brush with death reveal their extraordinary visions and ecstatic feelings at the moment they died, describing journeys through a tunnel to a realm of light, visual reviews of their past deeds, encounters with a benevolent spirit, and permanent transformation after returning to life. Carol Zaleski's Otherworld Journeys offers the most comprehensive treatment to date of the evidence surrounding near-death experiences. The first to place researchers' findings, first-person accounts, and possible medical or psychological explanations in historical perspective, she discusses how these materials reflect the influence of contemporary culture. She demonstrates that modern near-death reports belong to a vast family of otherworld journey tales, with examples in nearly every religious heritage. She identifies universal as well as culturally specific features by comparing near-death narratives in two distinct periods of Western society: medieval Christendom and twentieth-century secular America. This comparison reveals profound similarities, such as the life-review and the transforming after-effects of the vision, as well as striking contrasts, such as the absence of hell or punishment scenes from modern accounts. Mediating between the "debunkers" and the near-death researchers, Zaleski considers current efforts to explain near-death experience scientifically. She concludes by emphasizing the importance of the otherworld vision for understanding imaginative and religious experience in general.
26.99
In Stock
5
1
![Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.10.4)
Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times
![Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.10.4)
Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times
eBook
$26.99
$35.99
Save 25%
Current price is $26.99, Original price is $35.99. You Save 25%.
Related collections and offers
26.99
In Stock
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780190281588 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Publication date: | 11/03/1988 |
Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
Format: | eBook |
File size: | 601 KB |
About the Author
From the B&N Reads Blog