A profound and fascinating exploration of death and the afterlife! Christian and other religious beliefs, rituals from around the world, quests for immortality, scientists' conclusions, ghosts, and more! What happens when we die? Many view it as a mystery, but there are tantalizing clues to be found in the Bible and other religious scriptures, scientific findings, historical writings, literature, reports of near-death experiences, and in many other recorded sources. Facing the contradictions and similarities of beliefs from all over the world and throughout history, The Afterlife Book: Heaven, Hell, and Life After Death shows how death and the afterlife is viewed in a variety of different ways. This engrossing guide looks at the many competing views of the afterlife-and the shared connections between them, including ... Where ideas of Heaven and Hell came from and why they endure. What happens during near death experiences and out of body experiences, What is known about reincarnation and immortality. How death is linked to ghosts and apparitions, mediumship, and spiritualism. How the quest for immortality and transhumanism may play a role in one day ending death. How science and spirituality can often say the same thing?only in different languages and terminologies. How death and the dead have been celebrated, memorialized, and honored in the past and present. What happens to the human body just before, during, and immediately after physical death. What happens to the cells, tissues, heart, and brain as a result of the physical process of dying and decomposition. How burial and cremation traditions, rites, rituals, and controversies address consciousness and the existence of a soul. What religious leaders, philosophers, and scientists have to say about consciousness and the soul. Whether animals and pets have souls. Is death just a mysterious phase in our journey? Does it lead to Heaven (or Hell)? Is it reincarnation or simply eternal blackness and unconsciousness? Do we continue to exist in some form or other beyond our physical bodies? The Afterlife Book tackles these questions and gives us all hope that our lives do not come to an end but change like the natural cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth! It's many photos and illustrations help bring the text to life, and its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.