Monotheism & Paradise

This Element traces Greek views of the afterlife, engaging in dynamic tension with the Christian understanding of Paradise.

This Element explores Greek views of the afterlife, contrasting them with Christian beliefs of Paradise in the Resurrected state. It explores the relationship between Monotheism and Paradise, the difficulty of immortality, and the weak theology of a transcendent God.This Element will provide an essential tracing of selected Greek views of the afterlife which engage in dynamic tension with the Christian understanding of Paradise as fulfilled in the Resurrected state. The main three sections in this Element are Ideas of the Afterlife in the Greek Tragedians; Plato: The Difficulty of Paradise; and Holiness and Violence: A Christian View of the Resurrected State. The imposition of justice and the expiation of guilt through suffering are necessary prerequisites to our approach to the relationship between Monotheism and Paradise. Additional discussions will focus on weak theology and of a God not transcendent enough to ensure the desire for Heaven. As such, the sections are organized to isolate and trace this thread.