LTMonografija skirta senovės lietuvių anapusinio pasaulio vaizdiniams, ateinantiems iš ikikrikščioniškųjų laikų ir besikeičiantiems Lietuvos christianizacijos metu, pažinti. Plačiame Viduramžių rašytinių ir sakytinių šaltinių kontekste nagrinėjami sielos įsikūnijimo į gamtos kūnus (metempsichozės), ano pasaulio pievos ir joje besiganančių avių / gyvulių, sielos susiliejimo su dievybe (apokatastazės), kalno (arba dangaus) ir požemio, rojaus ir pragaro vaizdiniai. Lygiagrečiai keliami šaltinių nagrinėjimo, anapusinio pasaulio fenomenų korektiško pažinimo klausimai, leidžiantys ne tik geriau susipažinti su christianizacijos procesu Lietuvoje, bet ir atsakyti į klausimus, kokius anapusinio pasaulio vaizdinius žinojo mūsų protėviai ir kaip šiuos vaizdinius gali suvokti šių dienų tyrinėtojai bei skaitytojai. „Kristus prieš Belialą“ - tai knyga, priversianti permąstyti ligšiolinį įsivaizdavimą apie senovės lietuviams priskiriamus ikikrikščioniškuosius anapusinio pasaulio vaizdinius ir leisianti suprasti kai kurių vaizdinių krikščionišką kilmę bei atsiradimo Lietuvoje aplinkybes. [Anotacija knygoje]
ENThe aim of the research is to analyse the possible influence of Christianity on the images of Lithuanian afterlife during the process of Christianisation (the 13th to 15th century) and later, based on the comparative, analogy, and case study methods and through the verification of historical, folklore, and partly archaeological sources. To achieve the goal, the following objectives have been set: 1) to analyse possible pre-Christian images of the afterworld, based on the historical, folklore, and partly archeological sources; 2) to examine the medieval "folk", i.e. of the „silent majority", images of the after-world brought by Christianity that may have influenced the images of the afterworld of pagan Lithuanians during Christianisation; 3) to identify the integration of possible pre-Christian images of the afterworld into the Christian images of it and / or the "overlap" of the former and the latter.The monograph will examine several images related to the afterworld: 1) the incarnation of the soul into natural bodies (metempsychosis) as possibly the oldest way of imagination attributed to ancient Lithuanians about what happens to the soul when a person dies; 2) the grasslands of the afterworld and the sheep grazing in it; 3) the merging of the soul with the deity; 4) the afterworld on the mountain (or somewhere in the sky) as well as the underworld; and 5) the imagination of heaven and hell. Admittedly, these are not all the images related to the afterworld, even though the contexts will also deal with the issues of both the afterworld deities, psychopomps, certain states of the soul, the topography and topographic objects of the afterworld, the soul's journey to the afterworld, the fire, water, cold, and heat in it, etc. It should also be noted that some of the above mentioned images were better expressed in written sources, and others in oral ones. Efforts have nevertheless been made to relate, as far as possible, the information from written sources to chronologically later information from spoken sources, and therefore the images of the afterworld found in written and spoken sources overlap in one and another way. [From the publication]