Shades of Sheol: Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament
"For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?" (Psalm 6:5)
Philip S. Johnston explores these and other issues. He examines Israelite views on death and afterlife as reflected in the Hebrew Bible and in material remains, and sets them in their cultural, literary and theological contexts.
Johnston argues in detail that the Israelites were not as preoccupied with the underworld or the dead as some scholars have recently alleged. Instead, their faith that Yahweh was the God of the living, and that Sheol was cut off from him, led eventually to the hope of a positive afterlife. This important study sheds fresh light on Israelite beliefs in an area central to the later development of the Christian faith.
Contents include:
Part A: Death
- Death in the Old Testament
- Death in Ancient Israel
- The Unwelcome Underworld
- The Threatening Underworld
- The Pervasive Underworld?
Part C: The Dead
- Naming the Dead
- Consulting the Dead
- Honoring the Dead
- Communion Beyond Death
- Resurrection from Death