Most people say they believe in an afterlife. Over the centuries artists, poets and philosophers have struggled to capture celestial splendor in words and images.
It seems that we are all anxious to believe in heaven as a blissful resting place, a kind of reward for all our earthly labors — yet few of us know much about it — and it’s clear that people have questions. Books dealing with the subject like “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” and “Left Behind” are perennial bestsellers.
So why is it that we are so interested in what happens after we die? Is heaven a particularly Western obsession? And what are the important differences between how other faiths understand the afterlife? Exploring life after death, human notions of immortality.
Guests:
Carol Zaleski, Professor of Religion at Smith College and author of “The Book of Heaven”
Jana Riess, Religion Book Review Editor for Publishers Weekly.