Thursday Thinking - Afterlife

Last fall on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, Robert Siegel interviewed five different people on their beliefs about life after death. I found it interesting and thought I would pull all the links together here in case you wanted to check it out. The five interviews include an evangelical Christian pastor, a Muslim imam, a secular philosopher, a Jewish rabbi, and a Catholic nun. I especially appreciated some of the ideas put forward in the interview with philosopher, Samuel Scheffler.

Siegel introduced the series with these words: "A majority of Americans from all walks of life believe in life after death. Yet conversations about the afterlife — from what it might look and feel like to who else one may find there — often remain highly personal ones, shared with family members, clergy or others who share one's faith. To better understand how many Americans conceive of the afterlife, All Things Considered has spoken with leaders from different faith traditions on their views on life after death."

An Evangelical Protestant Pastor's Beliefs:
The Rev. Gabriel Salguero, a pastor of The Lamb's Church in New York City and president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, tells NPR's Robert Siegel how faith in the afterlife informs Salguero's life and why he sees heaven as a place where diverse people coexist without the tensions that sometimes divide them on earth.
READ OR LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

A Muslim Imam's Beliefs:
NPR's Robert Siegel spoke with Mufti Asif Umar, a Muslim scholar and imam of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, about what Muslims believe and about his own beliefs.
READ OR LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

A Secular Philosopher's Beliefs:
Philosopher Samuel Scheffler doesn't believe in a traditional afterlife — that is, he doesn't think that a spirit or soul survives the body's physical death. But he does believe in another kind of afterlife: Regardless of what we think about our own life after death, Scheffler tells NPR's Robert Siegel, we all trust that others will continue to live after us. And, much like faith in a spiritual afterlife, that belief changes what we choose to do with our days on earth.
READ OR LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

A Jewish Rabbi's Beliefs:
Millions of Americans believe in the afterlife, and author and scholar Joseph Telushkin is no exception. The Orthodox rabbi has written extensively about Judaism and says that the concept of God is incompatible with the idea that life ends at death. He holds that conviction so strongly, he tells NPR's Robert Siegel, because he believes that God is just — and he has to assume that a just God would provide some reward to a person who has lived his or her life well, while imposing a different fate upon those who do evil.
READ OR LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

A Catholic Nun's Beliefs:
Perhaps it's no surprise that Mary Catherine Hilkert, a Catholic theologian, a professor at Notre Dame and a Dominican Sister of Peace, believes that people can find love, mercy and union with God after death. In her eyes, however, the concept of hell is far less definitive.
READ OR LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW