McGrath A Brief History of Heaven

1. Auflage 2008
ISBN: 978-0-470-77991-0
Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 216 Seiten, E-Book

Reihe: Wiley Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion

This engaging book by one of today's best-known Christian writersexplores the history of heaven, from its origins in biblicalwritings to its most recent representations.
* * A short, accessible book on the history of heaven.
* Draws together representations of heaven by a wide range ofwriters, theologians, politicians and artists.
* Covers literary works such as Dante's Divine Comedy,Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, and the poems of GeorgeHerbert.
* Considers discussions by Marx and Freud of heaven's role insociety.
* Based on serious scholarship but is ideal for thenon-specialist who wants to learn more about the idea ofheaven.
* Alister E. McGrath is one of today's best-known Christianwriters.

Autoren/Hrsg.

McGrath, Alister E.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations viii
Preface ix
1 The City: The New Jerusalem 1
Images and the Christian Faith 2
The City of Jerusalem in the Old Testament 7
The City of Jerusalem in the New Testament 10
Augustine of Hippo on the Two Cities 13
The Heavenly City and Medieval Spirituality 17
Pearl and the New Jerusalem 25
John Bunyan's Heavenly City 29
The Shape of the Heavenly Body 33
2 The Garden: Heaven as Paradise 39
The Quest for the Garden of Eden 41
Paradise in the Bible 43
Early Christian Views of Paradise 47
The Millennium as Paradise 52
Medieval Visions of Paradise 54
Dante's Divine Comedy 58
Paradise and the Enclosed Garden 65
Heaven as the Restoration of Eden 70
3 Opening the Gates of Heaven: Atonement and Paradise75
Christ the Victor 79
Christ the Hero 83
Christ the Harrower of Hell 88
Christ the Redeemer: Atonement as Satisfaction 94
Christ the Lover: Atonement and the Enkindling of Love 96
The Institutionalization of Atonement: The Church as the Gatewayto Heaven 101
The Privatization of Atonement: Personal Faith as the Gateway toHeaven 106
4 The Signposting of Heaven: Signals of Transcendence111
Nature as an Anticipation of Heaven 113
The Ascent of Love and the Intimation of Heaven 117
Experience and the Sense of Heaven: Herbert and Traherne 120
Nature as a Signpost of Heaven: Romanticism andTranscendentalism 124
Longing for Heaven: C. S. Lewis 130
5 The Consolation of Heaven 137
Reunion with Family in Heaven in Early Roman Christianity139
Heaven as an Encounter with God 141
Heaven as a Dream: Feuerbach, Marx, and Freud 146
Heaven as an Encounter with Loved Ones 150
African American Spirituals 155
6 Journey's End: Heaven as the Goal of the ChristianLife 161
The Concept of Spirituality 162
The Hope of Heaven: Theological Foundations 164
The Appeal to Worship: Heaven on Earth 166
Feasting in the Kingdom 168
Journeying to the Promised Land 171
Returning to the Homeland from Exile 175
Seeing God Face to Face 181
Works Consulted 185
Index 192

Über Autor(innen)

Alister E. McGrath isProfessor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, and Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He is the author of numerous best-selling books, including The Future of Christianity, Christian Theology: An Introduction, 3rd edition, and In The Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible.