Death, Ecstasy, and Other Worldly Journeys

John J. Collins is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Post-biblical Judaism at the University of Chicago. His books include Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora; The Apocalyptic Imagination; and The Scepter and the Star: Messianism in the Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Michael Fishbane is Nathan Cummings Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago, where he is also Chair of the programs in Jewish Studies. He is the author or editor of 10 other books.

• Introduction Antiquity Chapter 1 Wisdom's Place Jonathan Z. SmithChapter 2 Ascent to the Stars in a Mesopotamian Ritual:Social Metaphor and Religious Experience Tzvi AbuschLate Antiquity Chapter 3 A Throne in the Heavens: Apotheosis in Pre-Christian Judaism John J. CollinsChapter 4 The Seven Heavens in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses Adela Y. CollinsChapter 5 Paul and the Beginning of Jewish Mysticism Alan F. SegalChapter 6 The Practice of Ascent in the Ancient Mediterranean World Martha HimmelfarbChapter 7 Mystical Descents Guy G. StroumsaThe Crown of Immortality: Toward a Redescription of Christian Martyrdom Arthur J. DrogeChapter 9 Abathur, A New Etymology Nathaniel DeutschMedieval Chapter 10 The Imagination of Death in Spirituality Jewish Michael FishbaneChapter 11 Weeping, Death, and Spiritual Ascent in Sixteenth Century Jewish Mysticism Elliot R. WolfsonChapter 12 Between Authority and Indeterminacy: Some Reflections on Kabbalistic Hermeneutics Moshe IdelChapter 13 Hekhalot and Mi'raj:Observations on the Heavenly Journey in Judaism and Islam David J. HalperinChapter 14 The Role of the "Anima Mundi" as Mediator Between the Divine and Created Realms in the Twelfth Century Bernard McGinnEarly Modern Chapter 15 Death and the Distribution of Sacral Power in Early Japanese Mythistory Gary L. EbersoleChapter 16 To Hell and Back: Death, Near-Death and Other Worldly Journeys in Early Medieval China Robert Ford CampanyChapter 17 Sir Henry Vane: Mystical Piety in the Puritan Revolution W. Clark GilpinContemporary Chapter 18 Death, and Near-Death Today Carol ZaleskiContributors Biblical References Index Nonbiblical Authors and Works Index Modern Authors Index