This text explores the brighter side of eternity, namely, heaven. Dispensing with cliched images of heaven, the author aims to stimulate readers' imaginations with a history of how the joy of paradise has been conceived by writers, philosophers and artists, for whom heaven was not immediate reality. He 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 Judgement Day? Russell argues that the best way to approach the logic-defying concept of a place occupying neither space nor time is through poetry, paradox and the writings of such mystics as Bernard, Julian of Norwich and Eckhart. The book culminates in a lively analysis of how Dante described the glories of the indescribable.
- ISBN10 0691011613
- ISBN13 9780691011615
- Publish Date 16 April 1997
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 1 October 2001
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Princeton University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 256
- Language English
- URL https://press.princeton.edu/titles/6032.html