their hope (1:3) and so should not grieve like the pagans. They will grieve, but their mourning will be tempered with the knowledge that a living hope is based on the resurrection of the dead (1 Pet 1:3). The Greco-Roman people had a general belief about crossing the River Styx and walking the Elysian fields forever, but in general death for most meant the end of it all. The philosophers talked about the immortality of the soul, but this was not really held by the general populace. There are many
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