Heaven Can Wait

Purgatory in Catholic Devotional and Popular Culture

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Denominations, Catholic, Catholicism, Theology
Cover of the book Heaven Can Wait by Diana Walsh Pasulka, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Diana Walsh Pasulka ISBN: 9780190210816
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: October 24, 2014
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Diana Walsh Pasulka
ISBN: 9780190210816
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: October 24, 2014
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

After purgatory was officially defined by the Catholic Church in the thirteenth century, its location became a topic of heated debate and philosophical speculation: Was purgatory located on the earth, or within it? Were its fires real or figurative? Diana Walsh Pasulka offers a groundbreaking historical exploration of spatial and material concepts of purgatory, beginning with scholastic theologians William of Auvergne and Thomas Aquinas, who wrote about the location of purgatory and questioned whether its torments were physical or solely spiritual. In the same period, writers of devotional literature located purgatory within the earth, near hell, and even in Ireland. In the early modern era, a counter-movement of theologians downplayed purgatory's spatial dimensions, preferring to depict it in abstract terms--a view strengthened during the French Enlightenment, when references to purgatory as a terrestrial location or a place of real fire were ridiculed by anti-Catholic polemicists and discouraged by the Church. The debate surrounding purgatory's materiality has never ended: even today members of post-millennial ''purgatory apostolates'' maintain that purgatory is an actual, physical place. Heaven Can Wait provides crucial insight into the theological problem of purgatory's materiality (or lack thereof) over the past seven hundred years.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

After purgatory was officially defined by the Catholic Church in the thirteenth century, its location became a topic of heated debate and philosophical speculation: Was purgatory located on the earth, or within it? Were its fires real or figurative? Diana Walsh Pasulka offers a groundbreaking historical exploration of spatial and material concepts of purgatory, beginning with scholastic theologians William of Auvergne and Thomas Aquinas, who wrote about the location of purgatory and questioned whether its torments were physical or solely spiritual. In the same period, writers of devotional literature located purgatory within the earth, near hell, and even in Ireland. In the early modern era, a counter-movement of theologians downplayed purgatory's spatial dimensions, preferring to depict it in abstract terms--a view strengthened during the French Enlightenment, when references to purgatory as a terrestrial location or a place of real fire were ridiculed by anti-Catholic polemicists and discouraged by the Church. The debate surrounding purgatory's materiality has never ended: even today members of post-millennial ''purgatory apostolates'' maintain that purgatory is an actual, physical place. Heaven Can Wait provides crucial insight into the theological problem of purgatory's materiality (or lack thereof) over the past seven hundred years.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Device and Composition in the Greek Epic Cycle by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Who Shall Lead Them? by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Intergroup Attitudes and Relations in Childhood Through Adulthood by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Juvenile Justice Sourcebook by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Pat Metheny by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Education's Epistemology by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Flying Tiger by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Spirituality in the Flesh by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Mystics and Messiahs by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Meta-analysis: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book The Philosophy of Aquinas by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy by Diana Walsh Pasulka
Cover of the book Islam and Politics Around the World by Diana Walsh Pasulka
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy