Book Review: Life after Death: A History of the Afterlife in Religions of the West

Abstract

This is a large book about a vital subject. Much learning is manifest in the many topics discussed: the text extends from early Mesopotamia to the present -indeed the work is painfully contemporary, since the author, being a New Yorker, is not a little concerned with the events of 11 Sept. 2001 and with the motives and expectations of suicide bombers.Segal is not only a Professor of Religion but also a Professor of Jewish Studies. He writes therefore with authority about Hebraic matters, so that there are, for example, strong and illuminating treatments of developing notions of the afterlife in early Israel, in Second Temple Judaism, in St Paul's writings, and among the early Rabbis. The reviewer has long been interested in the ancient Near East, but he is primarily a scholar of Greek and the Greeks: to criticize the Jewish scholarship deployed in the book would be impertinent; it would also be imprudent, since he is an aged, and perhaps senile, Roman Catholic. It will be proper, therefore, to draw attention to some of the many merits of Life after Death before asking -tentativelysome questions and offering -hesitantly -some comments. The lasting sentiment after reading, and re-reading,