The Ransom of the Soul: Afterlife and Wealth in Early Western Christianity

In this brilliant, brief, and densely elegant study in the history of ideas, Brown (Through the Eye of a Needle), a renowned scholar of early Christian history, vividly illustrates the complex evolution of ideas about wealth and its role in the afterlife from the Christianity of the second century to the seventh century C.E. The early third-century theologian Tertullian teaches that souls do not go to heaven at death but they experience a time of refreshment as they prepare to move on. During this period, the dead were still close to the living, so surviving family members could help the deceased be more comfortable by offering a communion meal for them. By the fourth century, Brown shows, the wealthy sought to protect the souls of the deceased, and donated money to secure burial tombs close to the shrines of the martyrs. By the sixth and seventh centuries, the practice of remembering the departed develops into the building of magnificent monasteries and shrines. Brown lucidly reveals the details and personalities of these centuries as he continually articulates the dynamic character of early Christianity. (Apr.)