The Meanings of Death » (1st Edition)

In The Meanings of Death, John Bowker offers a major contribution to debates about the value of death and its place in both Western and Eastern religions.

Library Journal

With verve and understated humor, Bowker ( Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World , LJ 6/15/70) critiques reductionistic thinking about the relationship between religion and death. His specific target is the ``compensatory'' view, which holds that religion, arising out of the terror that accompanies the consciousness of death, posits a desirable existence beyond death that compensates for the pain and tragedies of life. His analysis of the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism uncovers much richer and more varied responses to the fact of death than the compensatory model allows. Bowker concludes with a call for the recognition and acceptance of death as the condition of the possibility of life as we know it. His largely convincing argument should find an audience in both public and academic libraries.-- Steve Gowler, Wofford Coll., Spartanburg, S.C.

Part I. Introduction:

1. Death and the origins of religion;

Part II. Religions and the origin of death:
2. Judaism;
3. Christianity;
4. Islam;
5. Hinduism;
6. Buddhism;

Part III Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.