Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-237) and indexes.

Introduction -- Backgrounds -- Death and afterlife in ancient and second temple forms of Judaism -- Postmortem existence in the OT : Sheol -- Formation of heaven and hell -- The functions of divine judgment in Old Testament texts -- Greco-Roman material -- Paul : the ethics of death and afterlife -- Paul's background and chronology -- General introduction to Pauline anthropology 1 Cor. 15 -- Beyond 1 Cor 15: 2, Cor 5:1-10, and Philippians 1:18b-26 -- Death and afterlife in the Fourth Gospel -- A conversation with John AQ.T. Robinson -- Working hypothesis : FG evinces a bestowed realized immortality for believers -- Composition of human beings -- Fate of human beings -- "That to philosophize is to learn to die" -- The problem of death -- The problem of death in the Fourth Gospel -- The Fourth Gospel and epicureanism -- Death and afterlife in Matthew -- Matthew's community -- Matthean cosmology -- Matthean anthropology -- Language of death and destruction -- Eschatological scenario -- Death and afterlife in the Petrine texts -- Introduction to 1 Peter -- Death and afterlife in 1 Peter -- Death and afterlife in 2 Peter -- Conclusions and directions for further research.