Eternal in the Heavens

If there were a perfect, unending existence awaiting us after death, what would it be like? What would we do there? Would you want to go there at all? Today, philosophers of religion are increasingly interested in questions of this kind. This book uses the approach of analytic philosophy to examine a conception of heaven that is rooted in Christian tradition but rarely considered by modern philosophers and theologians: heaven as atemporal, that is, a state in which no time passes. It argues that such a view is not only coherent but offers answers to some key problems facing the concept of heaven. Along the way, it considers topics such as the nature of time, the possibility of atemporal persons, the relationship between earthly and heavenly selves, the beatific vision and the role of the body, and how the blessed in heaven could be said to be divine.

Jonathan Hill is senior lecturer in philosophy of religion at the University of Exeter. He is the author or co-editor of a number of books.