VIDEO

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The Dead—Billy Collins Animated Poetry

By Billy Collins — 2007

Combining dry wit with artistic depth, Billy Collins shares a project in which several of his poems were turned into delightful animated films in a collaboration with Sundance Channel. Five of them are included in this wonderfully entertaining and moving talk

00:53 min

‘Afterlife’ feels ‘even more real than real,’ researcher says

You’re about to go to “heaven” and live to tell about it. And your story will become the subject of scientific research.

Article
Ben Brumfield
2013
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The torture of the grave Islam and the afterlife

According to Islamic doctrine, between the moment of death and the burial ceremony, the spirit of a deceased Muslim takes a quick journey to Heaven and Hell, where it beholds visions of the bliss and torture awaiting humanity at the end of days.

Article
Leor Halevi
2027
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Mormon women fear eternal polygamy, study shows

Carol Lynn Pearson's new book argues that many, if not most, Mormon women feel pain and fear at the prospect of sharing their husbands with at least one other wife for all of eternity.

Article
Jana Riess
2016
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Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife

What happens when we die? A recent Pew Research poll showed that 72% of Americans believe in a literal heaven and 58% believe in a literal hell. Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian and assume they are the age-old teachings of the Bible.

Book
Bart D. Ehrman
2025
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What is hell?

The recent dispute over whether Pope Francis denied the existence of hell in an interview attracted wide attention.

Article
Joanne M. Pierce
2021
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Friday Essay: How Can the Dead Send Us Emails? The Ethical Dilemma of Digital Souls

Tim Hart was sitting on his couch one evening in November 2011 when he got an email with the subject line: “I’m watching.” The message that followed was short and to the point …

Article
Patrick Stokes
2021
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Can Science ‘Prove’ There’s an Afterlife? Netflix Documentary Says Yes.

The documentary emphasizes “proof” of life after death, but it mixes the debunked, the unknown and the unprovable.

Article
Stephanie Pappas
2021
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Is There a Jewish Afterlife?

Judaism is famously ambiguous about what happens when we die.

Article
MJL
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How Believing in an Afterlife Can Ruin Your Life

Surely any support for a belief in an afterlife, no matter how tenuous, is better than none? Isn’t it bound to be a comfort? It may not work out like that.

Article
John Shand
2011
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‘I Believed That I Would See Her Again’

This month’s conversation in our series exploring religion and death is with Karen Teel, who has been a member of the department of theology and religious studies at the University of San Diego since 2007.

Article
George Yancy
2020
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EXPLORE TOPIC

Afterlife