In Conversation: On Beyond: How Humankind Thinks About Heaven

Writer Catherine Wolff is also the editor of Not Less Than Everything: Catholic Writers on Heroes of Conscience from Joan of Arc to Oscar Romero. Beyond: How Humankind Thinks About Heaven (Riverhead Books) offers a survey of ideas about the afterlife, and a cultural history of heaven. What do we think of when we think about heaven? What might it look like? Who or what might be there? Wolff describes how different faiths and religions have framed heaven, how its sense has evolved, and how nonreligious influences have affected it, from the Enlightenment to the increasingly secular views of heaven today. From Christianity and Islam to Hinduism and beyond – and from the brush of Michelangelo to the pen of Dante – people across millennia have tried to explain and describe heaven. Wolff looks into these accounts to discover what’s common among them and what makes each conception distinct and memorable. Booklist noted that “Wolff’s sprawling book could almost function as a world religions text ... [A]n enlightening read for those curious about what may happen after we die, whether they’re people of faith or not.”

Rev. Priscilla Felisky Whitehead is a United Church of Christ minister who moved to Miami from Boston to serve on the pastoral staff of The Church by the Sea in Bal Harbour for 22 years prior to her retirement from active parish ministry. She continues local interfaith and bridge-building efforts as a board member of MCCJ and through convening regularly in a neutral setting group discussions for people of varied faith backgrounds who are interested in exploring questions of religion, spirituality, belief, ethics and meaningful living in today’s world. As the daughter of Russian émigrés, she directed a citizens’ exchange program with the USSR during the Cold War, and presently serves as a founding board member of Americans for Immigrant Justice.