I just wrote a rather lengthy post on Body, Soul, Spirit and the Messiah in which I referred to the fact that after the success of Alexander the Great in shattering the smug and complacent self-views of the known world in the 4th Century B.C.E. a complete changeover took place.
Part of this change involved Judaism.
Judaism absorbed both the Greek language and Greek thought (which included philosophy and science).
There was inevitably a quest to creat EQUIVALENCY between the Hebrew language (and thinking) and the new GREEK language and thinking.
Greek was vast in scope and definitions compared to Hebrew. It was a real stretch!
From this point forward in history (Alexander's death) you'll find an abrupt mutation in Jewish theology.
This includes the attempt to smooth over the difference between Hebrew thoughts about what "death" is and the place of death "Sheol" and Greek thought about "hades".
Guess who won?
The Greeks!
When thinking changes; everything changes.
The hope for an afterlife follows the conceptual change in what death is and where the dead reside.
A discussion such as this one cannot take place in limbo. When we try to define what a religous view is of a certain doctrine we are absolutely compelled to be time/place specific.
Why?
Because thought changes over time by absorbing the blows of contrary influence.
The mutations caused by the impact of contrary argument give us
CURRENT ORTHODOXY.
Hint: current orthodoxy is like the latest Windows platform; subject to revisions constantly.
Religious debate leads to updates and revisions.
It is an ongoing process.
Belief does not take place in a vacuum.
T.
