In this groundbreaking publication, originally published in 1972, George Nickelsburg places ideas in their historical circumstances as he probes biblical and postbiblical texts and challenges widely accepted scholarship. The continuities in literary forms demonstrate that divine justice was the central issue, but that people differed as to whether that justice was enacted in this life, in the assumption to heaven, in a resurrection, or in the ongoing life as an immortal soul.

The expanded edition includes subsequent studies on the resurrection accounts and theologies of the New Testament, the New Testament passion narratives, and Jewish and Christian theologies about the Son of Man.

This book provides a window into aspects of the ancient apocalyptic worldview whose dynamics and functions are often misunderstood.

George W. E. Nickelsburg is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of Iowa.