• Home
• Study
• Study Information
• Modules
• Module Information

Heaven and Hell throughout the Ages

Module description

This module traces the development of Christian doctrines of heaven and hell from the period of the Early Church to the present day. You’ll assess the social and political factors affecting belief in or the denial of hell, examine concepts such as purgatory and the role of the Devil, and engage with debates about war, the holocaust, universal salvation, and evangelical views of hell.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will examine:

• the development of Christian doctrines of heaven, hell and related concepts such as purgatory, focusing on five key periods: the early Church; the Medieval period; the Reformation; the late 18th and 19th centuries
• how specific questions on the nature of heaven and hell have been related to the Christian eschatological hope and to Christian theology in general
• social and political factors affecting belief in or the denial of hell
• the variety of beliefs on these themes, in particular looking at the relationship between mainstream Christianity and fringe groups

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge and understanding of the variety of Christian beliefs about heaven, hell and purgatory and their development through time.
• 2. Describe and assess the relation of Christian eschatological beliefs to other theological doctrines and to social and political factors

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Use the methods of critical historical investigation to analyse the relationship between specifically Christian beliefs, texts, practices and institutions, and wider social and cultural structures and norms
• 4. Demonstrate detailed understanding of how personal and communal identities and motivations are shaped by religion, how this has both constructive and destructive effects, and the importance of these identities

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Undertake guided work within broad guidelines
• 6. Shape detailed information into a coherent account demonstrating consistency and rigour in method and argument, with some guidance
• 7. Evaluate and analyse selected written primary and secondary sources and material sources, with some guidance
• 8. Demonstrate sensitive understanding of the differences between the practices and traditions of various groups
• 9. Communicate clearly in written and oral forms
• 10. Participate appropriately in a learning group

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Introduction to themes and issues [Homeric Hymn to Demeter and Virgil Aeneid VI]
• The early church I [The Passion of Perpetua; Irenaeus Against Heresies V]
• The early church II [Origen On First Principles, Augustine City of God]
• The Medieval period: Hell and Purgatory [Dies Irae; Dante Purgatorio]
• The Medieval period: resurrection [Dante Paradiso and Aquinas]
• Radical eschatology [Pseudo-Dionysius, Joachim of Fiore, Jan Hus]
• The Reformation: purgatory, indulgences [Luther 95 Theses; Babylonian Captivity]
• Responses to the Reformation: [Council of Trent; Johannes Denck] 
• Seventeenth and eighteenth century England: pietism, Platonism and radicalism [Anne Conway, Jane Lead, George Rust, and Jeremiah White] 
• The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: USA [Jonathan Edwards and H. Ballou]
• The nineteenth century: UK [F. W. Farrar; E. Pusey; John Colenso]

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Perpetua. The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity. Edited by Thomas J. Heffernan. Oxford University Press, 2012. http://0-www.oxfordscholarship.com.lib.exeter.ac.uk/view/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199777570.001.0001/acprof-9780199777570 .
• Bynum, Caroline Walker. The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200-1336. Fulcrum.Org. Columbia University Press, 1995 https://www-fulcrum-org.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/concern/monographs/mc87pq33h .
• McGinn, Bernard, ed. Visions of the End: Apocalyptic Traditions in the Middle Ages. Electronic resource. Vol. 96. Records of Civilization: Sources and Studies, no. 96. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979. https://uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.06025
• Almond, Philip C. Heaven and hell in Enlightenment England (C.U.P., 1994)  https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584695 .
• Rowell, Geoffrey, Hell and the Victorians (Clarendon Press, 1974) https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198266389.001.0001/acprof-9780198266389.
• Walls, Jerry L. The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology. The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology. Oxford University Press, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195170498.001.0001.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• Detailed week-by-week course-pack and other resources available on ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1721