Hell hath no fury : gender, disability, and the invention of damned bodies in early Christian literature / Meghan R. Henning.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Henning, Meghan R., author.

Series:

Anchor Yale Bible reference library.

Yale scholarship online.

The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christian literature, Early.

Hell in literature.

Hell--Christianity.

Hell.

Women in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (284 pages)

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2025.

Place of Publication:

London : Yale University Press, 2021.

System Details:

text file rdaft

Summary:

Throughout the Christian tradition, descriptions of hell's fiery torments have shaped contemporary notions of the afterlife, divine justice and physical suffering. But rarely do we consider the roots of such conceptions, which originate in a group of understudied ancient texts: the early Christian apocalypses. In this pioneering study, Meghan Henning illuminates how the bodies that populate hell in early Christian literature - largely those of women, enslaved persons and individuals with disabilities - are punished after death in spaces that mirror real carceral spaces, effectually criminalizing those bodies on earth.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: Eternal Suffering between Reality and Imagination

1. Assigned to Suffering: Gendered Bodily Suffering in the Ancient World

2. Gendered Bodies, Social Identities, and the Susceptibility to Sin

3. Becoming Female and Deformed through Suffering in Hell

4. From Passive to Active: Gender and Atonement in Mary's Tours of Hell

Conclusion: Making Hell on Earth

Epilogue: Ancient Christian Hell's Afterlives

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Also issued in print: 2021.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-300-28802-6

0-300-26266-3

OCLC:

1265464159