The Eclipse of Eternity: A Sociology of the Afterlife

233 Pages·1996·12.28 MB·English

by  Tony Walter

THE ECLIPSE OF ETERNITY
Also by Tony Walter
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
A LONG WAY FROM HOME: An Exploration of Contemporary Idolatry
BASIC INCOME: Freedom from Poverty, Freedom to Work
FAIR SHARES? An Ethical Guide to Tax and Social Security Reform
FUNERALS-AND HOW TO IMPROVE THEM
HOPE ON THE DOLE
PILGRIMAGE IN POPULAR CULTURE {co-editor with Ian Reader)
SENT AWAY: A Study of Young Offenders in Care
THE HUMAN HOME: The Myth of the Sacred Environment
THE REVIVAL OF DEATH
The Eclipse of Eternity
A Sociology of the Afterlife
Tony Walter
Lecturer
Department of Sociology
University of Reading
First published in Great Britain 1996 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG2I 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
ISBN O-333-6I6I4-6
First published in the United States of America 1996 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 0-312-15933-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for
©Tony Walter 1996
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London W1P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
10 9 8 7 6 54 3 2
05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
In memory
of one who lived each day
in the light of eternity
Kathy Keay
8.7.1954-24.12.1994
Mortality is ours for the asking — but immortality is something we
must build ourselves.
(Zygmunt Bauman, Mortality, Immortality and Other Life Strategies,
1992, p. 1)
At some point in the nineteen-sixties, Hell disappeared. No one could
say for certain when this happened. First it was there, then it wasn't.
Different people became aware of the disappearance of Hell at
different times. Some realised that they had been living for years as
though Hell did not exist, without having consciously registered its
disappearance. Others realised that they had been behaving, out of
habit, as though Hell were still there, though in fact they had ceased
to believe in its existence long ago. By Hell we mean, o fcourse, the
traditional Hell of Roman Catholics, a place where you would burn
for all eternity if you were unlucky enough to die in a state of mortal
sin.
On the whole, the disappearance of Hell was a great relief, though
it brought new problems.
(David Lodge, How Far Can You Go?, 1981, p. 113)
Hell is probably the hardest of all Christian teachings to accept.
(Billy Graham, Facing Death and the Life After, 1987, p. 219)
Belief in life after death, along with the whole mythology of heaven,
hell and resurrection, has become an optional extra of modern
Christian life.
(Bryan Turner, Religion and Social Theory, 1991, p. 235)
What do I believe happens when I die? To tell the truth this is
something I think about hardly at all.
(Mrs Mary Whitehouse, campaigner for Christian morality)
Contents
Introduction 1
1 The Afterlife: A Theological Survey 9
2 The Afterlife: Popular Beliefs Today 27
3 Secularisation and the Terror of Death 49
4 Idealist and Materialist Explanations 69
5 Medicine: the Secularisation of Hope 79
6 The Secularisation of Ritual: Funerals and Burials 91
7 The Secularisation of Ritual: Cremation and Dissection 103
8 Loss: The Secularisation of Meaning 117
9 Retrospect and Prospect 131
10 Pastoral Care 137
11 Heavens on Earth 149
12 Ethics without Eternity 161
13 The Reappearance of the Hereafter 173
14 The Eclipse of Eternity 191
Notes and References 197
Select Bibliography 201
Bibliography 203
Index 215
VI1
List of Tables
1.1 Religious Community Size, Britain 1992 13
2.1 Religious Belief, Europe and the USA 32
2.2 Belief in Ghosts in Relation to Age 42
2.3 Belief in Life after Death, by Religion, USA, 1978 47
7.1 Cremation Worldwide, 1992 106
7.2 Cremation in the USA 107
Vlll
Acknowledgements
I thank Valerie Levin, Peter Jupp and Ralph Houlbrooke for
carefully reading the first draft, and for their invaluable and detailed
comments. What has resulted is, of course, my responsibility alone.
Thank you also to Su Brown, librarian at Trinity College, Bristol,
and to Denise Brady, librarian at St Christopher's Hospice, London,
for their ever cheerful production of books and information.
TONY WALTER
IX