How Different Religions View Death and Afterlife

by Christopher Jay Johnson (Editor), Marsha G. McGee (Editor)

This book presents an objective, thoughtful and practical explanation of the often-complicated subjects of death and afterlife. Offering a clear, concise and comparative overview of the teachings and the death beliefs of 19 different religions, this popular book will be of enormous value to all readers who would like to obtain a better understanding of the various ways in which different faiths understand death and what happens afterward. Unlike many books on the subject of religious beliefs, the discourse here is refreshingly objective and entirely non-proselytizing. Furthermore, each chapter is written by a different expert or scholar who is internationally recognized as an authority on a particular faith. This book will be welcomed by theologians, healthcare professionals, clergy and chaplains of all religious traditions, teachers and students of comparative religion and death and dying, social workers, grief and pastoral counselors and funeral directors.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Philosophy

324 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

A standard college text, but not a very good one for a world religions focus. About half of the book details official doctrine different Protestant sects, and some of the information given is inaccurate.

Read the chapter on Judaism, and skip the rest.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reasonably good book; it just turns out I wasn't that interested in the subject after all. I bought it several years ago after the death of a family member, but by the time it arrived in the mail the moment had passed. Finally got around to reading it.

I like the way it's organized. A chapter on each religion, written by someone from within that faith, and ordered alphabetically. Each chapter gives a brief overview of the religion, the major tenets, the history, the prevalence within the United States; and then it goes into more detail about death, the afterlife, the end of the world, and mourning practices. Then at the end of the book, a series of questions (e.g. "Does your religion believe in reincarnation?") with each one giving a brief answer, ranging from one word to a few sentences. Really nice to have all this gathered in one place.

But the focus is on major US religions--either large numbers of members, or quickly growing (when the book was written in 1998). And so it's mostly Christian, and frankly, those chapters seemed similar enough to me that they all sort of ran together. Not to mention that many of them didn't mesh very well with my own personal thoughts on organized religion. I had to space it out, and read only one or two chapters a week, for both reasons. Several non-Christian religions were included, but only one chapter apiece, even though I wouldn't be surprised if some of the denominations of Judaism, Buddhism, or Islam had at least as many members in the US as a few of the smaller Christian denominations that were included.

[Nicole C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discusses Judaism, Baptists, Unitarian Universalists, Islam, etc and their views on death and the afterlife.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly think how people view the afterlife has a lot to do with how much love they have for their fellowmen. To what place do they consign their enemies for eternity. A fascinating read.