In every culture and epoch, human beings have yearned for heaven - the kingdom of God, abode of the elect, fount of enlightenment, mirror of hopes and desires. This work is an anthology of writings about heaven, drawing from scriptures, myths, epics, poems, prayers, sermons, novels and spells.

Part I: The Journey. With readings from Alighieri, St Bede the Venerable, John Bunyan, Henry Fielding, P B Shelley, CG Jung, The Greek Magical Papyri, The Second Book of Jeu, Sir Walter Raleigh ; Part II: Lands of Bliss. With readings from Rupert Brooke, Louis Ginzberg, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Howard Schwartz, John G Neihardt, Robert Hare, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps ; Part III: The Vision of God. With readings from St Augustine, As-Suyuti, The Sukhavativyuha Sutra, Dante Alighiere, Jonathan Edwards, Marie Corelli, the Bible, Edmund Spenser, John Henry, Cardinal Newman ; Part IV: The Celestial Court. With readings from Homer, Pseudo-Dionysius, Bhagavat Purana, John Milton, Robert Southey, Lord Byron, Pope Pius XII, G K Chesterton ; Part V: Heavenly Society. With readings from Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, Julain Barnes, St Hildegard of Bingen, Jalal ad-Din ar Rumi ; Part VI: Heaven on Earth. With readings from Plato, Milton, Bhagavata Purana, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Fourier, William James, Mikhail Lermontov, Shaker songs. ; Part VII: New Heaven, New Earth. With readings from the Bible, the Qu'ran, George Sword, St Augustine, C S Lewis, John Donne, Henry Vaughan. ; Credits ; Index

"Everything Philip and Carol Zaleski touch turns to gold. Scholarly, witty, and wise, they know the field well and have keen eyes for what's interesting."--Annie Dillard, author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Holy the Firm "With the greatest sensitivity and with skillful critical judgment, Carol and Philip Zaleski have collected a variety of texts relating to the nearly universal human hope for an existence of joy unlimited by the pains and pangs of our earthly existence. From the sublime to the sentimental, the heartfelt to the comic, from Judaism and Christianity through depth psychology through Native American, Muslim, and Hindu religions to modern satire, this book offers a shining selection."--Jeffrey B. Russell, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara, author of A History of Heaven "The passages contained here--from the pious to the satirical--are rich enough to help us rethink what has to be the most significant question every human being faces: the point of it all."--Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and Original Self "Carol and Phillip Zaleski have invited us to make a journey through the world to come. Even though Jesus says that eyes have not seen, nor ears have heard, nor has it entered into our minds what that world might be like. Still we humans have tried our best to guess what it's like. The Zaleski's have collected the best of those best tries and enlightened and entertained us and perhaps stirred up our hopes and expectiations."-Andrew M. Greeley, Professor of Social Science, The University of Chicago "A remarkable collection of writings about heaven...Regardless of how readers envision the hereafter, they are sure to enjoy this delightful collection in the here and now."--Publishers Weekly "A substantial new anthology.... The Zaleskis are cheerfully learned.... A virtue of this anthology is that you can read a hobo's ditty along with the incandescent closing lines of Dante's Paradiso."--The New York Times Book Review "A collection of descriptions, interpretations, meditations, ruminations and speculations relating to heaven, gleaned from an astonishing variety of sources.... Highly readable, not to mention thought-provoking."--Parade

Carol Zaleski is Professor of Religion at Smith College. She is the author of Otherworld Journeys and The Life of the World to Come (both OUP). Philip Zaleski is Lecturer in Religion at Smith College and Senior Editor of Parabola. He is the author of The Recollected Heart and Gifts of the Spirit, and editor of the annual Best Spiritual Writing series. They live in Northampton, Massachusetts.