For centuries, societies have used visions of the afterlife to discipline people’s behavior. DEA / G. Nimatallah/De Agostini via Getty Images 8 septembre 2021 How threats of hellfire helped keep ‘immodest’ women in their place – from the ancient world to ‘My Unorthodox Life’ Meghan Henning, University of Dayton Ancient Christian and Jewish texts threatened women with hellfire if they stepped out of line – and those terrifying visions still resonate in U.S. society today.
The Plague of Athens. Michiel Sweerts/ Los Angeles County Museum of Art/Wikipedia 23 mars 2020 Ancient Greeks purged city-states of disease as they would a human body – and it was the most vulnerable that suffered Meghan Henning, University of Dayton et Candida Moss, University of Birmingham The Greeks treated their city-states like bodies. To protect them from disasters, it was the poor that were often sacrificed.
What was behind early depictions of hell? Erica Zabowski/Flickr.com 23 octobre 2018 Why the Christian idea of hell no longer persuades people to care for the poor Meghan Henning, University of Dayton Hell-themed Halloween attractions play on people’s fears. The early depictions of hell were meant to use fear as a moral guide to help others.