Critics of religion have argued that Christianity's success stems from its promise of eternal life, that people become Christian at bottom merely to cope with their fear of death. Contemporary theologians and philosophers, highly sensitive to this charge, tend to skirt the issue of life after
death. To speak of the afterlife is at best to engage in wishful thinking, at worst to descend to the level of pop religion, encounters with angels, and UFO abductions. In The Life of the World to Come, however, Carol Zaleski asks the question, "Are we rationally and morally entitled to believe in
life after death?" and answers with a spirited and emphatic "yes."

This small book, based on lectures presented in 1993, offers some interesting reflections on the relevance of near-death experiences for the Christian hope of the afterlife. ( )