Beyond the Threshold: Afterlife Beliefs and Experiences in World Religions

by Christopher M. Moreman

In every culture throughout history, people have asked the same fundamental question about what will happen to them when they die. From the underworld to the light at the end of the tunnel, beliefs and experiences of death abound. And even though we cannot know for sure what happens to us after death, our understanding of the afterlife can have a profound impact on how we live.

Beyond the Threshold is the first book to seriously examine the afterlife through the lens of both world religions and metaphysical experiences. Christopher M. Moreman includes an introduction to the afterlife beliefs of ancient cultures, which are essential to understanding the roots of many modern ideas about death. He examines the folklore and doctrines of major world religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. He also discusses psychic phenomena across traditions, such as mediums, near-death and out-of-body experiences, and past-life memories. While ultimately the afterlife remains unknowable, Moreman's unique, in-depth exploration of both beliefs and experiences can help readers reach their own understanding of the afterlife and how to live. No other book in the field approaches the issue of the afterlife from so many angles, but Moreman weaves them skillfully together into an accessible and engaging book.

Genres: Religion

312 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2008

Reviews

[Jodi W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for a college class. While it is quite informative it was difficult to retain the information.

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful overview of afterlife beliefs and practices. Does use the largest religions and belief systems in the world as is best for the general public to go from beginner to understanding the scholarly landscape. I enjoyed this textbook for a fascinating class that was not so stiffly academic that it was engaging to read. It was good enough to be completely used and that is the best standard in my opinion.

[Beth Quick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I assigned this book for one of my classes, based on a previous faculty person using it. It was - ok. Pretty dry, and not super engaging for my undergraduate students. I also felt like times when the author's personal views leaked through were distracting/ill-placed. But, servicable.

[Kenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class, so it could really only be so enjoyable. It was really interesting stuff for someone who doesn't consider themselves to be religious.

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class in 2021, while informative parts were hard to get through. Also It could use some updating.

[Loyalhistorian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book several months ago. I was curious about what the afterlife beliefs were for various religions. This was a good book, and went about each subject matter scientifically, trying to back up everything with some sort of primary source. I appreciated that. It's very good in that it doesn't try to preach to you about any religion or belief, it's just laying out all the details for you. In part one, he gives an overview of each religion's belief, going over basic Ancient religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and various Chinese religions. In part two, he goes over different experiences that some say prove there is an afterlife, and then tells you what each of the aforementioned religions believe about those experiences. The experiences he goes over are: Mediumship, Apparitions and Hauntings, Near-Death Experiences and Out-of-Body Experiences, and Past-Life Memories. In part three, he tries to compare the beliefs, the phenomena, and gives his conclusions.

In part one, I was kind of surprised at how little is mentioned of what the afterlifes are supposed to be like. Particularly in the Christian faith, I know that there was more that could have been mentioned. All talks a lot about death and definitely the hell aspect of each religion. I was also hoping for some mention of cultural ideas of the afterlife, but none are mentioned in the book.

In part two, that's where it seemed more interesting to me. You got to see what each religion believed about certain phenomena, and then it had historical testimonies to back each up.

Part three, you really could just skim over. It basically summarizes everything that he talked about in the first two sections. Even in his conclusions, he doesn't come up with any revelations or set-in-stone ideas that he believes...just more rehashing of the stuff he's already mentioned. His big thing is universality of a phenomena versus just cultural phenomena.

Overall, a good book. Well researched, I thought.

[Robin Imperial]

lost interest & returned to the library