Images of Afterlife: Beliefs from Antiquity to Modern Times

Who among us hasn't wondered what awaits us after we die? Do we simply cease to be? Or is death in fact the door from our world into another? To find answers to these enduring questions, venerated scholar Geddes MacGregor takes us on a fascinating journey of discovery - from the ancient Middle East to modern America - in search of insight into the hidden mysteries of life after death. Along the way we explore Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Chinese religion, and Islam; learn about Karma, rebirth, and reincarnation; participate in the philosophical and theological debates prompted by the notion of afterlife; and meet people who are able to recall past lives and others who claim to have visited a world beyond ours during the fleeting moments of near-death experiences, Geddes MacGregor shows us how questions about afterlife have been asked (and often answered!) around the world and throughout history. Through his interpretation of the traditional concepts of heaven, hell, purgatory, and nirvana, Professor MacGregor shows that our spiritual well-being craves not a state of eternal bliss, but the opportunity for continuing growth. Humankind's yearning for life after death also testifies to our acknowledgment of purposefulness in the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. Professor MacGregor concludes that the kind of belief or disbelief we have toward God will reflect the kind of belief or disbelief we have in afterlife. Ultimately, humanity's common belief in afterlife points toward the grand design of the Creators whose existence tugs at our consciousness from a world beyond our own. A powerful and vastly informative book, Images of Afterlife will encourage deep reflection about what awaits usin "the life everlasting" and will foster renewed appreciation of the importance of our sojourn in this lifetime.

A brilliant history of belief in the hereafter, from prehistoric times to the present, by an eminent theologian and philosopher. MacGregor explores Western visions of paradise and purgatory, heaven and hell, as well as Eastern concepts of soul transference, reincarnation, Karma, and Nirvana. MacGregor is the author of 30 books, including Angels: Ministers of Grace.