"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. Contextualizing the apocalypses alongside ancient medical texts, inscriptions, philosophy, and patristic writings, this book demonstrates the ways that Christian depictions of hell intensified and preserved ancient notions of gender and bodily normativity that continue to inform Christian identity"-- Dust Jacket Inside Flap.

Introduction. Eternal suffering between reality and imagination -- Assigned to suffering: Gendered bodily suffering in the Ancient World -- Gendered bodies, social identities, and the susceptibility to sin -- Becoming female and deformed through suffering in hell -- From passive to active: Gender and atonement in Mary's Tours of Hell -- Conclusion. Making hell on earth -- Epilogue. Ancient Christian Hell's afterlives.