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A history of heaven: the singing silence

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Well-known for his historical accounts of Satan and hell, Jeffrey Burton Russell here explores the brighter side of eternity: heaven. Dispensing with the cliché images of goodness that can make even heaven seem unbearable, the author stimulates our imagination with a history of how the joy of paradise has been conceived by writers, philosophers, and artists for whom heaven was an imminent reality. Russell not only explores concepts found among the ancient Jews, Greeks, and Romans as well as early and medieval Christians, but also addresses the intellectual problems heaven poses: how does time "pass" in eternity? is heaven a place or a state? who is in and who is not? what happens to the body and soul between death and Judgment Day? Russell stresses that the best way to approach the logic-defying concept of a place occupying neither space nor time is through poetry and paradox, and through the visions of such mystics as Bernard, Julian of Norwich, and Eckhart.

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Availability

170702095

236.24 RUS h

Z. HANDIMAN

Available

Detail Information

Series Title

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Call Number

236.24 RUS h

Publisher

New Jersey : Princeton University Press., 1997

Collation

xv,220p.; 24 cm.

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0-691-01161-3

Classification

236.24

Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

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Subject(s)

HEAVEN

Specific Detail Info

v

Statement of Responsibility

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