Death and the Afterlife in the New Testament

What happens when we die? What does the New Testament say about Hell? What does the New Testament say about Heaven? Jaime Clark-Soles attempts to offer some answers to these and other questions in Death and the Afterlife in the New Testament. She discovers that the New Testament says both more and less than we might hope or expect. Every time the subject of death and the afterlife arises, New Testament writers place their answers in the concerns and experiences of living Christian communities. The writers relate to a larger theological and pastoral agenda, and their primary focus remains life on earth and the proper living of it. Clark-Soles discovers that no author sets out to answer directly questions about death and the afterlife. There is no systematic theology in the New Testament regarding death and the afterlife.

Jaime Clark-Soles is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University