The origin and development of Old Testament and inter-testamental belief regarding life after death

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityA study of the origins of any belief entails the investigation of prehistory. In the search for the earliest beginnings of the belief in life after death, it is further necessary to include a belief in God, and in man's awareness of spiritual things, since the belief in the future life is part of the whole religious consciousness of man. Man came into being so long ago that his first religious awakening is buried in the mists of earth's morning. Archaeological investigation has found the earliest knowledge of prehistoric man connected with his belief in life after death: his careful burial of the dead, with weapons, utensils and ornaments for use in the next world. Thus man's cultural development can be traced by his burial deposits. It seems proved beyond a doubt that belief in life after death was universal, and must have been part of man's consciousness, suggesting the Creation statement that he was "made in the image of God." While very little is known of any other actions or beliefs of man so long ago, it is recognized by the remains at the grave that burial entailed some kind of religious ceremony. This can be seen by the many cup-holes found at the grave sites, which suggest libation offerings, and by the easily-recognized remains of feasts held there, which may have been either funeral or memorial rites. By Chalcolithic times many tombs had vestibule entrances, often with an altar in central position. In Egypt people paid more attention to life after death and built more elaborate tombs than anywhere else in the world, and here was apparently the first distinction recognized between good and evil in the world beyond. The pictures on the walls of the early tomb-temples portray souls being weighed, and show the happy life awaiting the successful, and the dangers in store for those who fail to make the grade. After the invention of writing, development can be followed more clearly. Egyptian documents are many, dealing with life in the future world, and the incantations to insure a happy state there. Mesopotamian epics recount prolonged attempts to attain immortality, and belief in the power of gods over men. Burial rites can be read from Hittite documents. The Homeric epics incantations to insure a happy state there. Mesopotamian epics recount prolonged attempts to attain immortality, and' belief in the power of gods over men. Burial rites can be read from Hittite documents. Homeric epics tell a like tale. In far-off America such belief is found and similar rites practiced. This seems to have been a normal development, but it was not all an upward trail. In many parts of the world magic rites developed, often accompanied by human sacrifices to insure favor of gods who were placated rather than worshiped. In the midst of these people, Israel seems to have maintained a healthy interest in life on earth, with death only casually mentioned. These people were aware of the interest of the Lord, their one God, in the affairs of everyday life; the dead were "gathered to their fathers." They were often tempted into the ways of their pagan neighbors, but the prophets gave protest continually, upholding high ideals. Life after death is mentioned incidentally, which may indicate that it was a basic belief which they did not need to emphasize. Until the later writings, which may have been influenced by Persian concepts, this spirit life was but a shadowy existence. Even in the Psalms, where one would expeet a soaring of the spirit, the outlook is dismal. Sheol is a land of darkness and forgetfulness; the shades "cannot praise the Lord." In the later writings there are a few references to a happy state in the next world, but Daniel is the only prophet who speaks of a resurrection of both good and evil for judgment. The victories of the Maccabaean revolt, and the establishment of Jewish independent national life finally under the leadership of John Hyrcanus, led to a return of high hopes that the golden age prophesied for them was at hand. When the failure of the new regime frustrated their expectations, they did not lose faith in God or in their prophetic future. They lifted their expectations to a new plane. Many apocryphal references to the future of Jerusalem look to an eternal glory that is more than earthly, and an anointed leader or Messiah of superhuman qualities. The newly-discovered Dead Sea Scrolls give emphasis to the Messianic expectations. Meanwhile, in lands all over the earth men were seeking light on the next world, and some way of being assured of a good place there. Many mystery religions had developed, similar in belief: spirits both good and bad, active in both worlds; a resurrection of the god, developed from the old nature cults where winter's sleep and spring's awakening suggested a resurrection symbolism; and ceremonies to induce that god to grant a good life in the spirit world. Philosophers and astrologers also were teaching tyPes of eternal life. Such developments are evidence of the universal longing of the human heart to find some way to overcome the tragedy of death. The conquest of Alexander the Great opened the roads of the world, and brought to Palestine as well as to other nations, the contact with the Greek culture. While Greek influences were moving eastward, Oriental culture was moving toward the West. The Jewish Dispersion placed the Jews in the very center of this movement, for all varieties of thought and worship were found in Egypt where most of them were finally settled. The Pseudepigraphical writings reflect this influence, both in the Palestinian and the Egyptian books. The foreign influence is most noticeable in the conception of life after death: vivid descriptions of the horrors of hell and the glories of heaven. There is a suggestion also that a few people would find the punishment of the lower world remedial, and would later be admitted to Paradise. The Jews were discriminating in their acceptance of pagan ideas. They rejected anything that would lower their conception of the great God of both heaven and earth. He was the one and only God, over all, majestic and of great glory, but even so, never removed far from earth. He was their "Guide even unto death," and their Father who showed steadfast love to his children of earth. They looked forward to an immediate entrance at death into places prepared for them "from the foundation of the world": for the wicked, places of torment; for the righteous, heavenly glories. And they expected a Leader, God-anointed, a Messiah, who would come to earth and restore the Paradise of Eden. A final Day of Judgment would mean destruction for all that was evil, and rewards for the faithful, after which there would come from God a "new heaven and a new earth" where righteousness would prevail, and all would be joy. [TRUNCATED

The Effects of Marine Natural Products on the Microenvironment of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, with that number increasing each year. New drugs need to be developed to treat this disease. One source of new drugs is marine natural products. Two compounds—HB-131 and HB-018—were tested for potential anti-cancer properties. Pancreatic cancer cells were exposed to these compounds for six hours and the conditioned media from this treatment was used to further our understanding of the effects of these compounds. A western blot was used to determine matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression, while a zymogram was used to determine MMP activity. A sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) array was used to determine the effects of these compounds in 15 different cytokines. HB-131 did not inhibit any of the cytokines tested, which suggests that its inhibition of CCL-2 is specific and not caused by inhibiting protein synthesis. In addition to inhibiting degranulation, HB-018 appeared to downregulate the inflammatory cytokine IL-23, while upregulating the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. HB-131 and HB-018 lowered MMP-2 activity, which might translate to lower metastatic activity. From these findings, HB-131 and HB-018 are one step closer to making it to clinical trials

The effect of affective characterizations on the size of children's drawings

Previous research has yielded conflicting findings about the existence and the direction of the size changes which occur in children's drawings when they are asked to draw topics which have been given an affective characterisation. The present study was designed to investigate whether children scale up the size of drawings of topics which have been given a positive characterisation, and scale down the size of drawings of topics which have been given a negative characterisation. Two hundred and fifty-eight children aged between 4 and 11 years completed three drawings of either a man, a dog or a tree. Each child drew a baseline drawing of a neutrally characterised figure, and two further drawings of a positively and a negatively characterised version of the same figure. It was found that the children drew the positively characterised topics larger than the neutrally characterised topics, and reduced the size of the negatively characterised topics relative to the baseline drawings. These patterns occurred at all ages and with all three drawing topics. Two possible explanations of the findings are discussed: the operation of an appetitive-defensive mechanism in children, and the acquisition of pictorial conventions

The Art of Bible Reading: A New Approach

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleThe status, age and multi-layered nature of the Bible have always made it challenging to teach in an open, exploratory way in the classroom. A collaborative research project between the University of Exeter and the Bible Society has been exploring how art can be a stimulus for teaching biblical stories in RE

"Being trans brings me love": Transgender and Gender Expansive Representation in Young Adult Novels as Counter Narratives

A 2021 survey conducted by The Trevor Project suggests that more than a quarter of LGBTQ+ youth identify as gender expansive. As more youth publicly disclose holding trans and gender expansive (TGE) identities, there is a growing need for young adult (YA) novels that reflect and affirm real TGE teens’ experiences, rather than novels that offer only one understanding of what it means to be TGE. This study uses an emergent category style of content analysis, rooted in existing literature on TGE youth’s experiences and in the novels, to look at representation of TGE youth in young adult novels published in 2020 by mainstream publishers in the United States. Specifically, this content analysis highlights how these novels reflect and expand on the literature and operate as dominant narratives, seen through the lenses of cisnormativity and transnormativity, and as counter narratives. These nine novels both demonstrate and challenge mainstream conceptions about TGE youth, and they validate and affirm the wide range of TGE experiences.Master of Science in Library Scienc

"A couple of pretty tough cowboys": John Grady Cole and the Violence of the Border in All the Pretty Horses

With the 1992 release of his novel All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy launched into fame, especially after the novel won him both the National Book Award for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction (“All the Pretty Horses”). The month before the novel’s release in May, Richard B. Woodward noted in The New York Times that none of McCarthy’s novels had “sold more than 5,000 copies in hardcover – which changed with All the Pretty Horses, a national bestseller in the United States. The book was, 8 years after its initial publication, turned into a popular movie, directed by Billy Bob Thornton and starring Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz (“All the Pretty Horses”). All the Pretty Horses garnered McCarthy international attention and recognition as a great American author.Bachelor of Art

The Tomato Strikes Back: Plant Response to Environmental Stress

Introduction Tomato is an important vegetable. Its production is threatened due to altered weather patterns which increase environmental stressors such as flooding1, 2 and herbivory3 to crops. Plants respond in many ways. Stressed plants strike back to environmental stress by altering their chemistry4: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions Defensive secondary metabolites2 Stress induced physiological changes in plants impact growth and development of insects. This study is broken into two experiments: The plant response to flooding stress The insect performance on flooded plant