Need books on history of heaven and hell and personal salvation framework

[Dora Smith]

NT Wright, who is an Anglican Evangelical scholar and Church of England bishop, has written a number of popular academic works about St. Paul. One of them is a biography.

In a You Tube presentation about his biography of St. Paul, NT Wright says that when Luther and Calvin and other 16th century theologians discussed St. Paul's views on justification with respect to individual salvation, they looked for biblical answers to late medieval questions.
The same questions weren't asked by the first Christians. Platonists like Plutarch were who thought people went to heaven or hell. Heaven and hell framework was a construct of the high middle ages, to which 16th century reformers provided new twists, but distorted the 1st century positions. To Paul what mattered was not people being taken away to distant heaven, but heaven and earth coming together in an entirely new way. Transformation of the present world and us with it. New bodies in newly constituted creation. Changes everything on the way. The ancients didn't think heaven and earth were widely separated places.

Can anyone suggest books on the history of Christian belief in heaven and hell? Especially the notion that it was a product of medieval thinking?

All I have found so far is short articles that suggest that our beliefs about heaven, hell and individual salvation began to develop in the early middle ages.

 

[HTacianas]

NT Wright, who is an Anglican Evangelical scholar and Church of England bishop, has written a number of popular academic works about St. Paul. One of them is a biography.

In a You Tube presentation about his biography of St. Paul, NT Wright says that when Luther and Calvin and other 16th century theologians discussed St. Paul's views on justification with respect to individual salvation, they looked for biblical answers to late medieval questions.
The same questions weren't asked by the first Christians. Platonists like Plutarch were who thought people went to heaven or hell. Heaven and hell framework was a construct of the high middle ages, to which 16th century reformers provided new twists, but distorted the 1st century positions. To Paul what mattered was not people being taken away to distant heaven, but heaven and earth coming together in an entirely new way. Transformation of the present world and us with it. New bodies in newly constituted creation. Changes everything on the way. The ancients didn't think heaven and earth were widely separated places.

Can anyone suggest books on the history of Christian belief in heaven and hell? Especially the notion that it was a product of medieval thinking?

All I have found so far is short articles that suggest that our beliefs about heaven, hell and individual salvation began to develop in the early middle ages.

I don't know of any book that gives a comprehensive answer to your question. But yes, through usage and custom we do in fact view heaven and hell differently than the ancients. The Christian view of heaven originates in the Jewish belief in "the world to come", see Matt 12:32, Mark 10:30, Luke 18:30, and Hebrews 6:5. The world to come is in fact a new earth, see Rev 21:1.

The Christian view of hell, or eternal punishment, or the place of punishment, comes from the ancient Jewish Essenes. See The Community Rule of the Dead Sea Scrolls:

And the Levites shall curse all the men of the lot of Satan, saying: ‘Be cursed because of all your guilty wickedness! May He deliver you up for torture at the hands of the vengeful Avengers! May He visit you with destruction by the hand of all the Wreakers of Revenge! Be cursed without mercy because of the darkness of your deeds! Be damned in the shadowy place of everlasting fire!

As to our view of "heaven" in the afterlife, it is in fact temporary. The righteous go on to be in the presence of God until the time of the New Earth, or the World to Come. It's what you described as "heaven and earth coming together in an entirely new way". While to be in the presence of the Lord forever, see:

1 Thess 4:16 ...And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

To be with the Lord forever doesn't necessarily mean to be in our concept of "heaven" forever, but to be in world to come forever. My own personal view of it is that the earth as we know it will continue forever, but in some different state. I don't know what that state will be, and I don't know how long that state will last before some other thing happens.

 

[disciple Clint]

NT Wright, who is an Anglican Evangelical scholar and Church of England bishop, has written a number of popular academic works about St. Paul. One of them is a biography.

In a You Tube presentation about his biography of St. Paul, NT Wright says that when Luther and Calvin and other 16th century theologians discussed St. Paul's views on justification with respect to individual salvation, they looked for biblical answers to late medieval questions.
The same questions weren't asked by the first Christians. Platonists like Plutarch were who thought people went to heaven or hell. Heaven and hell framework was a construct of the high middle ages, to which 16th century reformers provided new twists, but distorted the 1st century positions. To Paul what mattered was not people being taken away to distant heaven, but heaven and earth coming together in an entirely new way. Transformation of the present world and us with it. New bodies in newly constituted creation. Changes everything on the way. The ancients didn't think heaven and earth were widely separated places.

Can anyone suggest books on the history of Christian belief in heaven and hell? Especially the notion that it was a product of medieval thinking?

All I have found so far is short articles that suggest that our beliefs about heaven, hell and individual salvation began to develop in the early middle ages.

This may help. Ancient Greek Beliefs About Afterlife and the Underworld
Heaven and Hell in Christian Thought (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

 

[Tolworth John]

Can anyone suggest books on the history of Christian belief in heaven and hell

Try John Blanchard, ' What Ever Happened to He'll,' from Day One publications in the UK.

It is an exhaustive study on the theology of hell

 

[1watchman]

NT Wright, who is an Anglican Evangelical scholar and Church of England bishop, has written a number of popular academic works about St. Paul. One of them is a biography.

In a You Tube presentation about his biography of St. Paul, NT Wright says that when Luther and Calvin and other 16th century theologians discussed St. Paul's views on justification with respect to individual salvation, they looked for biblical answers to late medieval questions.
The same questions weren't asked by the first Christians. Platonists like Plutarch were who thought people went to heaven or hell. Heaven and hell framework was a construct of the high middle ages, to which 16th century reformers provided new twists, but distorted the 1st century positions. To Paul what mattered was not people being taken away to distant heaven, but heaven and earth coming together in an entirely new way. Transformation of the present world and us with it. New bodies in newly constituted creation. Changes everything on the way. The ancients didn't think heaven and earth were widely separated places.

Can anyone suggest books on the history of Christian belief in heaven and hell? Especially the notion that it was a product of medieval thinking?

All I have found so far is short articles that suggest that our beliefs about heaven, hell and individual salvation began to develop in the early middle ages.

I have found the site at Bible Truth Publishers, Addison, IL -USA to be very helpful: bibletruthpublishers.com. They have much on Christian history and all manner of sound Bibles, books, and writings by Bible scholars in past years, and today. Various materials for Church needs are also found there. They are very helpful for inquiries.