Alan F. Segal

Alan F. Segal

Professor of religion and Jewish Studies, Barnard College, Columbia University

Alan F. Segal is professor of religion and Ingeborg Rennert Professor of Jewish Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University. When appointed, the "On Faith" panelist was Columbia 's youngest full professor in the humanities. He served as chair of the Department between 1981-1984 and occasionally thereafter. Prior to Columbia, Segal taught at Princeton University for six years starting in 1974 and at the University of Toronto, where he was given a tenured position. While living in Israel on a 1977-78 Guggenheim Fellowship, he lectured at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, and Bar Ilan University. In addition to the Guggenheim, he has been awarded fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Annenberg Institute. In 1988, at the Jubilee Celebration in Cambridge England, he was the first Jewish member of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas to address the society. He is a member of the American Society for the Study of Religion and the American Theological Association. Segal holds degrees from Amherst College, Brandeis University, Hebrew Union College -- Jewish Institute of Religion , and Yale University , where he earned his doctorate. His studies have included English literature, psychology, anthropology, comparative religion, Judaica, Christian origins, and Rabbinics. His books include, Two Powers in Heaven (2002), Rebecca's Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World (1986), The Other Judaisms of Late Antiquity (1987) and Paul the Convert: The Apostasy and Apostolate of Saul the Pharisee (1992) and Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion (2004). Close.

Alan F. Segal

Professor of religion and Jewish Studies, Barnard College, Columbia University

Alan F. Segal is professor of religion and Ingeborg Rennert Professor of Jewish Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University. When appointed, the "On Faith" panelist was Columbia 's youngest full professor in the humanities. He served as chair of the Department between 1981-1984 and occasionally thereafter. more »

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June 29, 2007 9:09 AM

Heaven, Yes; Hell, Not So Much

Almost all Americans believe in an afterlife; but mostly the evangelicals alone believe in hell. I found this out while I was researching my book, Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in the West. Sometimes the polls say over 90% of us believe in heaven or some other positive afterlife while the numbers of us who believe in hell largely track the evangelical and fundamentalist communities. This seems to suggest that we want hell to keep us on the straight and narrow and also just as much or more to punish our religious enemies.

But most of us don’t care much about hell. It’s a surprise how few of us believe in hell, considering the lively a sense of hell Americans cherished in the 19th Century. Even Tony Soprano (who did believe in hell) didn’t think he was going there, though he admitted to some extra work in purgatory for his gangster behavior. For Tony, hell was reserved for the truly evil, like Hitler and Pol Pot.

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February 27, 2007 4:35 PM

Israel and the U.S. are Democracies

Of course, you can be critical of Israel and not be anti-Semitic, just as you can be critical of the United States and not be a traitor.

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December 29, 2006 11:31 AM

World Explained by Both Theism and Atheism

I do not know if atheism is in vogue right now but, by coincidence, I happen to be reading Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion and I can tell you what prompted him to write the book.

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December 23, 2006 1:56 PM

“Son of God” Meaning Depends on Context

I cannot tell you what it means to confess Jesus as the “Son of God” because I am not a Christian. And I do not believe that it is productive to argue over what people mean when they confess it. It is a free country and people are free to believe what they please. It is often touching and inspiring to hear people speak of the difference religious faith makes in their lives.

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Posted by Alan F. Segal | | Comments (391)




December 18, 2006 2:10 PM

The War on Christmas and the USA’s Christian Identity: One Jewish Perspective

Is the USA a Christian country? Recent headlines keep suggesting that it is. Rabbi Bogomilsky of the Lubavitch Hasidic community threatened to sue the Seattle-Tacoma Airport because they refused his demand to put up a Hanukah Menorah. “Airport’s Tree Stokes War on Christmas” was The Seattle Times’ headline. The paper not only assumed that the USA has a Christian identity but that it might be under attack by Hasidic Jews.

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