
Paradise Mislaid
How We Lost Heaven - and How We Can Regain It
Jeffrey Burton Russell(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 18. May 2006
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-19-516006-2 (ISBN)
Description
The Christian concept of heaven flourished for almost two millennia, but it has lost much of its power in the last hundred years. Indeed today even theologians tend to avoid the topic. But heaven has always been a central tenet of the Christian faith, writes Jeffrey Burton Russell. If there is no heaven, no resurrection of the dead, the entire Christian story makes no sense.
In this stimulating book, Russell sets out to rehabilitate heaven by forcefully attacking a series of ideas that have made belief in heaven, not to mention belief in God, increasingly difficult for modern people. Russell provides elegant and persuasive refutations of arguments ranging from the idea that science has disproved the existence of the supernatural, to the notion that biblical criticism has emptied the scripture of meaning. Along the way, as Russell looks at the ideas of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer, Mark Twain and Alfred Lord Tennyson, Marx and Freud, and a host of others, he sheds light not only on the history of Christian thought, but on the process of secularization in the West. One by one, Russell refutes these anti-religious ideologies, pinpointing the deficiencies of their reasoning.
Throughout the book, Russell invites the reader, whatever his or her beliefs, to take the concept of heaven seriously both as a worldview in itself and as one with enormous influence on the world. It is a book that will be welcomed by thinking Christians, who often feel beleaguered by the forces of modernity and sometimes find it hard to defend their own beliefs.
In this stimulating book, Russell sets out to rehabilitate heaven by forcefully attacking a series of ideas that have made belief in heaven, not to mention belief in God, increasingly difficult for modern people. Russell provides elegant and persuasive refutations of arguments ranging from the idea that science has disproved the existence of the supernatural, to the notion that biblical criticism has emptied the scripture of meaning. Along the way, as Russell looks at the ideas of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer, Mark Twain and Alfred Lord Tennyson, Marx and Freud, and a host of others, he sheds light not only on the history of Christian thought, but on the process of secularization in the West. One by one, Russell refutes these anti-religious ideologies, pinpointing the deficiencies of their reasoning.
Throughout the book, Russell invites the reader, whatever his or her beliefs, to take the concept of heaven seriously both as a worldview in itself and as one with enormous influence on the world. It is a book that will be welcomed by thinking Christians, who often feel beleaguered by the forces of modernity and sometimes find it hard to defend their own beliefs.
Reviews / Votes
As one would expect from a scholar with impeccable credentials in history and religious studies, Russell's analysis encompasses the key thinkers of each period in stylish and attractive narrative, summarizing what he sees as the signigicant views of each...Russell's writing stlye is clear and attractive. * Debbie Herring, Theology *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 160 mm
Width: 236 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-516006-2 (9780195160062)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
10/2007
Oxford University Press Inc
€38.60
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
05/2006
1st Edition
OUP USA
€12.49
Available for download

E-Book
05/2006
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€12.49
Available for download
Person
Jeffrey Burton Russell is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is well known for a series of books on the history of Satan and evil, as well as A History of Heaven--a book that was favorably reviewed in media as diverse as Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, and Christianity Today.
Author
Professor of History and Religious StudiesProfessor of History and Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (Emeritus)