04089nam 2200625 450 991046587480332120200520144314.01-5017-1248-910.7591/9781501712494(CKB)3710000001386375(MiAaPQ)EBC4865551(StDuBDS)EDZ0001803925(OCoLC)963231177(MdBmJHUP)muse57118(DLC) 2016052966(DE-B1597)492934(DE-B1597)9781501712494(Au-PeEL)EBL4865551(CaPaEBR)ebr11390036(CaONFJC)MIL1012774(EXLCZ)99371000000138637520170622h20172017 uy 0engurcnu||||||||rdacontentrdamediardacarrierHell and its rivals death and retribution among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the early Middle Ages /Alan E. BernsteinIthaca, New York ;London, [England] :Cornell University Press,2017.©20171 online resource (392 pages)Previously issued in print: 2017.1-5017-0780-9 1-5017-1249-7 Includes bibliographical references and index.Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Part I. Foundations -- 1. Gregory the Great -- 2. Inner Death -- 3. The Punishments -- Part II. Alternatives to Hell -- 4. Exceptions to Hell -- 5. Calibrated Justice and Purgatorial Fire -- 6. Visions -- Part III. Hell in Abrahamic Religions -- 7. Rabbinic Judaism -- 8. Byzantine Universalism -- 9. Islam -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- IndexThe idea of punishment after death-whereby the souls of the wicked are consigned to Hell (Gehenna, Gehinnom, or Jahannam)-emerged out of beliefs found across the Mediterranean, from ancient Egypt to Zoroastrian Persia, and became fundamental to the Abrahamic religions. Once Hell achieved doctrinal expression in the New Testament, the Talmud, and the Qur'an, thinkers began to question Hell's eternity, and to consider possible alternatives-hell's rivals. Some imagined outright escape, others periodic but temporary relief within the torments. One option, including Purgatory and, in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the Middle State, was to consider the punishments to be temporary and purifying. Despite these moral and theological hesitations, the idea of Hell has remained a historical and theological force until the present.In Hell and Its Rivals, Alan E. Bernstein examines an array of sources from within and beyond the three Abrahamic faiths-including theology, chronicles, legal charters, edifying tales, and narratives of near-death experiences-to analyze the origins and evolution of belief in Hell. Key social institutions, including slavery, capital punishment, and monarchy, also affected the afterlife beliefs of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Reflection on hell encouraged a stigmatization of "the other" that in turn emphasized the differences between these religions. Yet, despite these rivalries, each community proclaimed eternal punishment and answered related challenges to it in similar terms. For all that divided them, they agreed on the need for-and fact of-Hell.HellComparative studiesHellChristianityHistory of doctrinesMiddle Ages, 600-1500HellIslamHistory of doctrinesMiddle Ages, 600-1500HellJudaismHistory of doctrinesMiddle Ages, 600-1500Electronic books.HellHellChristianityHistory of doctrinesHellIslamHistory of doctrinesHellJudaismHistory of doctrines202.3Bernstein Alan E.1045520MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910465874803321Hell and its rivals2471873UNINA