623 - Biblical Perspectives on Death

Biblical Perspectives on Death
Loyd R. Bailey, Sr.
Philadelphia, Fortress, 1979. 159 pp. $6.95.

Social science and philosophy help Bailey evoke modern consciousness concerning death. He then guides the modern reader on a sometimes stylistically clumsy intellectual journey into the theocentric, community oriented, biblical horizons. Distinctions among the meanings of the word "death" and among kinds of death support the standard position that "canonical Old Testament" literature really does not exhibit concern about death itself or the after-life.

Bailey also leads us (more briefly) into Wisdom, apocalyptic, and New Testament attitudes, anthropolgies, and eschatologies. But it is surprising to see a Methodist not judge that "Old Testament" inadequacies really are resolved by later parts of the Bible whatever their own inadequacies. A better appreciation of the authentic questions and truths in the religion of Israel's neighbors, captors, and own folk religion-which he also discusses would have helped him and the reader make more final decisions concerning what really is moving forward for us in this whole history.

Richard L. Schaefer
Loras College
Dubuque, Ia.