Rise and Fall of the Afterlife

• Preface 1. Inventing the Afterlife 2. Orphism, Pythagoras and the Rise of the Immortal Soul 3. Travelling Souls? Greek Shamanism Reconsidered 4. The Resurrection from Zoroaster to Late Antiquity 5. The Development of Early Christian Afterlife: From the Passion of Perpetua to Purgatory 6. Ancient Necromancy and Modern Spiritualism 7. Near-Death Experiences: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Appendix 1: Why did Jesus' Followers Call themselves Christians? Appendix 2: The Birth of Paradise Appendix 3: God's Heavenly Palace as an Imperial Court: The Vision of Dorotheus Bibliography

`The book retains a lively and highly readable tone. Bremmer is an excellent storyletter, with an eye for amusing and interesting details. The topics that he chooses to discuss on his tour of the soul and afterlife are central and well-worth attention. Students and scholars of ancient religion, philosophy, and early Christianity will certainly want to read it, and more general readers will no doubt enjoy it greatly as well. - Peter Aronoff