John Casey (2) (1939–)

As another reviewer has pointed out, "After Lives" is less a history of humankind's ideas about the afterlife than a detailed analysis of a few of the more interesting proposed second acts that we've come up with. The book's real focus isn't popular belief but theological argument, which makes it, in places, a tough read for those not intimately acquainted with this subject, but it's interesting nonetheless, and the author manages to connect the influence these sometimes-obscure debates with the later development of conceptions of potential afterlives. "After Lives" is really at its best when it's at its weirdest: I found the chapters about heavens least like the one I was instructed to hope for as a young Roman Catholic to be the most interesting. Casey's defense of Egyptian theology, which often gets written off as morbid and death-obssessed, is fascinating, as is his explanation of the difference between Greek and modern Western conceptions of the soul The chapters on Swedeborgianism, Spiritualism, and Mormon heavens are also delightfully odd and very readable. The author also touches on Islamic conceptions of heaven, which seem both simultaneously familiar and strange. The author takes pains to point out that it isn't just Muslims who have imagined heaven as a comfortable and luxurious place. I was rather disappointed that the author didn't delve into the spare, peaceful, overtly psychologized picture of heaven that many modern "spiritual, but not religious" folks have in their heads these days and they compare to the more highly structured and judgmental afterlives that were imagined by, to name the most famous example, Dante. Not an essential book,but an interesting and informative read for those interested in religious topics.… (mehr)