Heaven, Hell, Paradise

The hope for heaven and the fear of hell have been powerful motivators in world history. Bernhard Lang describes in detail how Greeks and Romans, Jews, Christians and Muslims have imagined worlds beyond this one, which Gods, Humans, angels, demons and devils inhabited them and how life in this world gave shape to ideas of the next. Today, scientific criticism has pushed back widespread belief in another world, and yet the desire to meet a beloved person in another world remains.