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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2009

Philip C. Almond
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Summary

When compared with the stretch of time unknown to us, O king, the present life of men on earth is like the flight of a single sparrow through the hall where, in winter, you sit with your captains and ministers. Entering at one door and leaving by another, while it is inside it is untouched by the wintry storm; but this brief interval of calm is over in a moment, and it returns to the winter whence it came, vanishing from your sight. Man's life is similar; and of what follows it, or what went before, we are utterly ignorant.

The Venerable Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People

This book is about ignorance, ignorance of that which may have preceded our life, of that which may follow it. But images of life after death, or of its absence, are reflections of our lives now. Although enshrouded in our ignorance, yet they enshrine our deepest hopes and dreams, and express our greatest fears and nightmares. Life is experienced in the here and now in accord with the expectations of what it shall or shall not be after it has ended. Our beliefs and our actions in this life are permeated by images of who we shall or shall not be in the next.

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Heaven and Hell in Enlightenment England , pp. 1 - 3
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1994

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  • Introduction
  • Philip C. Almond
  • Book: Heaven and Hell in Enlightenment England
  • Online publication: 18 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584695.001
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  • Introduction
  • Philip C. Almond
  • Book: Heaven and Hell in Enlightenment England
  • Online publication: 18 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584695.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Philip C. Almond
  • Book: Heaven and Hell in Enlightenment England
  • Online publication: 18 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584695.001
Available formats
×