New Heaven: Death, Human Destiny, and the Kingdom of God

Harvey Cox is one of America's most widely read public theologians. In many bestselling books he has written on religion and faith for a wide general audience. In his new book he explores the question that underlies all religion: What is the point of life that ends in death? What are the different ways we think about the afterlife? What are we actually talking about when we talk about heaven, what do such thoughts about life after death mean for life on earth? Cox reminds the reader that the subject of heaven is not a preoccupation in the Gospels. Jesus, after all, was concerned primarily with the Kingdom of God--the call to renew the present world in response to the promise of God's love and justice. The process by which this concern deviated toward a preoccupation with "life after death" and "going to heaven" are among the topics covered here. But along the way, Cox draws on personal stories, including an account of his youthful work as an assistant to his undertaker uncle; surveys approaches to death in antiquity and in other cultures and religions, and reflections; and offers reflections, as he passes the age of 90, on his own mortality.