Life After Death : A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion

Rating:
Summary: A Tour De Force On The Hereafter In Western Religion
Review: Alan Segal's tour de force is in the French tradition of the "longue duree" approach to social history. "Life After Death" follows the late Phillippe Aries's magisterial "The Hour Of Our Death" back in the 1980s but where it differs from its predecessor is its not concerned so much with the "ars moriendi," the so called art of dying as it is with how Western religions and philosophies have dealt with the hereafter down through the ages. At nearly 800 pages its an exhaustive treatment on a subject people have speculated on since the dawn of civilization and when you finish it, its clear most of mankind will never be reconciled to the notion this life is all there is. Highly recommended reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Tour De Force On The Hereafter In Western Religion
Review: Alan Segal's tour de force is in the French tradition of the "longue duree" approach to social history. "Life After Death" follows the late Phillippe Aries's magisterial "The Hour Of Our Death" back in the 1980s but where it differs from its predecessor is its not concerned so much with the "ars moriendi," the so called art of dying as it is with how Western religions and philosophies have dealt with the hereafter down through the ages. At nearly 800 pages its an exhaustive treatment on a subject people have speculated on since the dawn of civilization and when you finish it, its clear most of mankind will never be reconciled to the notion this life is all there is. Highly recommended reading.

Rating:
Summary: Exhaustive Coverage of Jewish, Christian, Islamic Views
Review: Humans are, so far as we know, the only animal that concerns itself with what happens to us after we die. We don't even like to use the word die, we say passed away, crossed the river Jordan, or other terms. ==A major aspect of western religion is defining life after death. And in this monumental work, the origin and evolution of afterlife thoughts are traced. He begins with the Egyptions, where a life after death theology began to be developed. He thoroughly examines other early cultures such as Mesopotamia, Canaan, Greece, etc.

Finally he gets into the big three of western religions, first he covers Jewish views (Dr. Segal is a professor of Jewish studies at Columbia). Christian views come largely from Paul (Dr. Segal wrote a definitive book on Paul.) and the Gospels. For Islam, of course the Qur'an and some of the more modern writings are used.

In spite of the books large size (about 730 pages of text plus 150 pages of notes) it is fascinating enough and well written enough that it is relatively easy reading.

Rating:
Summary: Skeleton Key to the Western Mind
Review: I just finished reading Professor Segal's tome, "Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion." He has done a superb job at summarizing (yes, 700 pages is but a summary of this vast subject) these notions, at least as they appear in the Western world.

This subject has fascinated me for a long time but I began to study it more carefully five years ago. At that time, I had begun work on my book, "Brain & Belief: An Exploration of the Human Soul," and wanted to juxtapose ideas of the `soul' with our current notions of the mind as derived from the brain sciences. It was quite a surprise to discover that no single text existed that summarized ideas about the soul. The best resource was a prolonged article in Mircea Eliade's excellent Encyclopedia of Religion. Besides that, there were some specialized accounts about Greek ideas of the soul, Egyptian ideas of the soul, etc. but nothing that put them into a larger context outside of their particular cultures. To truly provide context, you would need to show how our most ancient ideas about the mind and about the afterlife came about, how they took priority within the Western mindset, and then how they changed over the last two to three thousand years. A monumental project, to be sure, but one that should have existed somewhere within a university library. Sadly, this was not the case.

It became a personal duty to provide at least a basic summary and reading guide for this subject. So in my 400 page work I devoted the first 100 pages to a history of the soul and spent another 20 or so pages discussing ideas of the afterlife at a later point. This was barely sufficient to provide a set of key points.

The key points which I chose to highlight and which Professor Segal reviews in much greater detail include the idea that the core of Western spirituality and philosophy-the idea of a disembodied soul-is largely the product of Plato's influence. Especially in the "Phaedo," Plato discusses the soul and its immortality. Plato got the lion's share of these ideas from Orphism (and its variant, Pythagoreanism). In turn, it is likely that these `religions' got their ideas from shamanic traditions common in prehistorical European culture. From these ancient ideas -- as articulated in the Platonic works -- came the driving force of the soul and the afterlife in the Christian and Muslim faiths. But, added to the notion of a disembodied soul were ideas about physical resurrection.

Ideas about resurrection derived from Zoroastrianism and (at least it is my contention) it is from Zoroastrianism that ancient Judaism took its ideas of resurrection (esp. in Daniel). Around the time of Jesus, then, the previously afterlife-devoid Jewish faith (First Temple Judaism vs. Second Temple Judaism) had started to steep in Platonic and Zoroastrian influences. One must not forget that in Jesus' time, Judea was part of the Roman Empire and that the Roman Empire was a cultural cosmopolis of the highest order, the one great city. At any given marketplace, one might discuss Plato, hear something about the mystery religions, and consider the moral rectitude of the Jews' single god. Through the genius of Christianity and its apologizers the incompatible ideas of physical resurrection and the disembodied soul essentially fused (or at least transmitted themselves in an uneasy alliance from generation to generation).

Reading the New Testament leads to an uncertainty about what to expect from Christian salvation: physical resurrection at the end of days or immediate afterlife entrance (thanks to the soul) at each individual's bodily death. Most people are fairly unappreciative of the explicitness of resurrection in the New Testament and thus imagine their loved ones' souls immediately going to heaven. In short, soul based ideologies have achieved the most popularity. Plato's influence has outshone all others.

It is a personal joy to see that Professor Segal's historical research generally follows the contours of this outline. "Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion" provides generous details about each and every aspect of Greek (esp. Platonic), Jewish, Christian, and Muslim ideas about the afterlife and-by necessity-discusses each of these traditions' ideas about the soul. The book, though massive, is a wonderful read and sure to quicken a few important debates.

To understand, at least on a summary level, the historical background of these ideas is of the utmost importance for understanding the history of the Western world. And because history (memory) is the core of personality, one must understand these issues to gain insight into our present world and its entrenched issues. From the trade center bombings, to stem cell debates, to environmental policy, one cannot truly understand the political perspectives of all sides until one appreciates these ideas about the soul and about the `end' or `aim' of human existence, ideas about the afterlife. This book is a must read and if the subject titillates, you might move on to "Brain & Belief" as a follow up.