Abstract
If hope is no longer to be found in heaven, then where is it to be found? In this chapter, I outline first how the Christian religion is reconstructing itself without eternity, and then how modern secular ideologies translate hopes of heaven and of immortality onto this earth. This is a potentially huge field, which in this chapter I can do little more than sketch.
We have destroyed Paradise and Hell. Whether we’ve done well or badly in this, I do not know. But what is certain is that the thing is done. We can’t recreate Paradise, nor relight the fires of Hell. We have to stay the course, and make a Paradise here-below for everyone.
(Ernest Renan, The Future of Science, 1848)
Belief in the after-life diminishes steadily, and the saving benefits of religion are demanded here and now.
(Bryan Wilson, ‘The Functions of Religion’, 1988, p. 204)
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© 1996 Tony Walter
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Walter, T. (1996). Heavens on Earth. In: The Eclipse of Eternity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230379770_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230379770_12
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39264-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-37977-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)