Round Trips to Heaven : Otherworldly Travelers in Early Judaism and Christianity
(2005) In Lund Studies in History of Religions 19.- Abstract
- In the beginning of the Common Era, a number of religious texts were written recounting heavenly journey adventures. These narratives have come to constitute a recurring theme in research regarding ancient religions.
Round Trips to Heaven features several early Jewish and Christian heavenly journey texts. Most of them are included in the apocalyptic literature. During the earlier research, the heavenly journey motif was understood to be one of many elements in this literature. It was not until the latter part of the 20th century that the stories of the heavenly journeys were treated as a type of their own among these texts.
The approach of this study serves to illuminate the function of the texts and... (More) - In the beginning of the Common Era, a number of religious texts were written recounting heavenly journey adventures. These narratives have come to constitute a recurring theme in research regarding ancient religions.
Round Trips to Heaven features several early Jewish and Christian heavenly journey texts. Most of them are included in the apocalyptic literature. During the earlier research, the heavenly journey motif was understood to be one of many elements in this literature. It was not until the latter part of the 20th century that the stories of the heavenly journeys were treated as a type of their own among these texts.
The approach of this study serves to illuminate the function of the texts and the circumstances and settings in which they were composed and later passed on, something which scholars have only recently begun to acknowledge. Of vital importance is the status of the heavenly travelers as well as their relationships with other members of the Tradition Group considered to have authored the texts. Two main types of heavenly journeys appear in the accounts. One type has the function of providing an identity for the heavenly traveler, and the other constitutes a paradigm for the events awaiting mankind after death.
The concluding section of the book is a relatively long exposition of 3 Baruch. This text, which in its entirety portrays a heavenly journey, informs the reader about death. In common with a number of other heavenly journey texts, 3 Baruch has both Jewish and Christian elements. Moreover, it clearly reflects a universal perspective. A similar perspective is also found in several of the other heavenly journey narratives which provides a reasonable explanation for how they could be used in both Jewish and Christian contexts. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Himmelsfärdsskildringar återfinns i en rad religiösa texter från vår tideräknings början. Dessa berättelser har kommit att utgöra ett återkommande tema i religionshistorisk forskning om antikens religioner.
Den här boken handlar om några tidiga judiska och kristna himmelfärdstexter. De flesta av dem utgör en del av den apokalyptiska litteraturen. Himmelfärdsmotivet har ofta uppfattats som ett av många inslag i denna litteratur. Det är inte förrän under senare delen av 1900-talet som himmelfärdsberättelserna har kommit att behandlas som en separat typ av apokalyptiska texter.
Perspektivet i denna studie läggs på texternas funktion i den miljö där de förekom... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Himmelsfärdsskildringar återfinns i en rad religiösa texter från vår tideräknings början. Dessa berättelser har kommit att utgöra ett återkommande tema i religionshistorisk forskning om antikens religioner.
Den här boken handlar om några tidiga judiska och kristna himmelfärdstexter. De flesta av dem utgör en del av den apokalyptiska litteraturen. Himmelfärdsmotivet har ofta uppfattats som ett av många inslag i denna litteratur. Det är inte förrän under senare delen av 1900-talet som himmelfärdsberättelserna har kommit att behandlas som en separat typ av apokalyptiska texter.
Perspektivet i denna studie läggs på texternas funktion i den miljö där de förekom och fördes vidare, något som forskningen först på senare tid har börjat beakta. Ett vitalt problem är de himmelska resenärernas status samt deras förhållande till andra medlemmar i de traditionsgrupper som stod bakom texterna. Två huvudtyper av himmelfärder framträder i skildringarna. Dels sådana som har en identitetsskapande funktion och dels sådana som utgör paradigm för vad som väntar människan efter döden.
Bokens avslutande del är ett längre studium av 3 Baruk. Denna text som i sin helhet utgör en himmelsfärd har en dödsorienterande funktion. I likhet med en rad andra himmelfärdstexter har den både judiska och kristna drag. Den speglar dessutom ett tydligt universellt perspektiv. Ett liknande perspektiv återfinns även i flera av de andra himmelfärdsskildringarna och utgör en tänkbar förklaring till att de kunde användas i både judiska och kristna sammanhang. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/24336
- author
- Carlsson, Leif Å LU
- supervisor
-
- Tord Olsson LU
- opponent
-
- Professor Hultgård, Anders, Uppsala Universitet
- organization
- publishing date
- 2005
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Teologi, Theology, 3 Baruch., death-informing, identity-providing, legitimacy, identity, Tradition Group, tradition, Christianity, Judaism, cosmology, otherworldly traveler, heavenly journey, heaven, Apocalyptic, apocalypse, Bible, Bibelvetenskap
- in
- Lund Studies in History of Religions
- volume
- 19
- pages
- 398 pages
- publisher
- Almqvist & Wiksell International
- defense location
- Hörsal 128 (St Mikael) Stora Algatan 4
- defense date
- 2005-01-28 12:15:00
- ISSN
- 1103-4882
- ISBN
- 91-22-02106-X
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: History and Anthropology of Religions (015017025), General History and Anthropology of Religions (015017030)
- id
- cb4de8c3-fa3b-4a48-91b6-b2c53abd3003 (old id 24336)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:03:13
- date last changed
- 2019-05-21 19:40:23
@phdthesis{cb4de8c3-fa3b-4a48-91b6-b2c53abd3003,
abstract = {{In the beginning of the Common Era, a number of religious texts were written recounting heavenly journey adventures. These narratives have come to constitute a recurring theme in research regarding ancient religions.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Round Trips to Heaven features several early Jewish and Christian heavenly journey texts. Most of them are included in the apocalyptic literature. During the earlier research, the heavenly journey motif was understood to be one of many elements in this literature. It was not until the latter part of the 20th century that the stories of the heavenly journeys were treated as a type of their own among these texts.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The approach of this study serves to illuminate the function of the texts and the circumstances and settings in which they were composed and later passed on, something which scholars have only recently begun to acknowledge. Of vital importance is the status of the heavenly travelers as well as their relationships with other members of the Tradition Group considered to have authored the texts. Two main types of heavenly journeys appear in the accounts. One type has the function of providing an identity for the heavenly traveler, and the other constitutes a paradigm for the events awaiting mankind after death.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The concluding section of the book is a relatively long exposition of 3 Baruch. This text, which in its entirety portrays a heavenly journey, informs the reader about death. In common with a number of other heavenly journey texts, 3 Baruch has both Jewish and Christian elements. Moreover, it clearly reflects a universal perspective. A similar perspective is also found in several of the other heavenly journey narratives which provides a reasonable explanation for how they could be used in both Jewish and Christian contexts.}},
author = {{Carlsson, Leif Å}},
isbn = {{91-22-02106-X}},
issn = {{1103-4882}},
keywords = {{Teologi; Theology; 3 Baruch.; death-informing; identity-providing; legitimacy; identity; Tradition Group; tradition; Christianity; Judaism; cosmology; otherworldly traveler; heavenly journey; heaven; Apocalyptic; apocalypse; Bible; Bibelvetenskap}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Almqvist & Wiksell International}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Studies in History of Religions}},
title = {{Round Trips to Heaven : Otherworldly Travelers in Early Judaism and Christianity}},
volume = {{19}},
year = {{2005}},
}