A New York Times Notable Book A Booklist Editors’ Choice A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year What would it really mean to live forever? Rachel is a woman with a problem: she can’t die. Her recent troubles—widowhood, a failing business, an unemployed middle-aged son—are only the latest in a litany spanning dozens of countries, scores of marriages, and hundreds of children. In the 2,000 years since she made a spiritual bargain to save the life of her first son back in Roman-occupied Jerusalem, she’s tried everything to free herself, and only one other person in the world understands: a man she once loved passionately, who has been stalking her through the centuries, convinced they belong together forever. But as the twenty-first century begins and her children and grandchildren—consumed with immortality in their own ways, from the frontiers of digital currency to genetic engineering—develop new technologies that could change her fate and theirs, Rachel knows she must find a way out. Gripping, hilarious, and profoundly moving, Eternal Life celebrates the bonds between generations, the power of faith, the purpose of death, and the reasons for being alive.

According to Christian doctrine, what happens to those who have died? While traditionally it has been said that one group of people spends eternity in heavenly happiness while another group experiences conscious, unending torment in hell, there are other Christians who believe in alternativesthat hell is simply a separation from God, that the lost are simply annihilated and not subject to torment, or that actually, in the end, all will be reconciled to God and live in heavenly glory. The Gift of God Is Eternal Life explores a five-century journey that traces the development and dispersal of the doctrines of universalism and conditional immorality in a compelling narrative collection of short stories. Beginning from when these doctrines were merely whispered about or published anonymously to the days when traveling evangelists preached them in the new and growing American republic, these engaging vignettes show how this once intense debate between Christians has evolved into modern times where such ideas can be freely discussedeven in mainstream television and evangelism. Do infants who die prior to an age of accountability receive salvation, and are those who have never heard the Christian message simply doomed? What about loved ones who die without having embraced the Christian gospelor those who believe in less-traditional Christian dogmas and institutions? The Gift of God Is Eternal Life can help both believers and nonbelievers understand the implications of these theological perspectivesnot just in an afterlife, but in their own lives here and now.

In the light of globalization's failure provide the universal panacea expected by some of its more enthusiastic proponents, and the current status of neo-liberalism in Europe, a search has begun for alternative visions of the future; alternatives to the free market and to rampant capitalism. Indeed, although these alternatives may not be conceived of in terms of being a 'perfect order', there does appear to be a trend towards 'utopian thinking', as people - including scholars and intellectuals - search for inspiration and visions of better futures. If, as this search continues, it transpires that politics has little to offer, then what might social theory have to contribute to the imagination of these futures? Does social theory matter at all? What resources can it offer this project of rethinking the future? Without being tied to any single political platform, Utopia: Social Theory and the Future explores some of these questions, offering a timely and sustained attempt to make social theory relevant through explorations of its resources and possibilities for utopian imaginations. It is often claimed that utopian thought has no legitimate place whatsoever in sociological thinking, yet utopianism has remained part and parcel of social theory for centuries. As such, in addition to considering the role of social theory in the imagination of alternative futures, this volume reflects on how social theory may assist us in understanding and appreciating utopia or utopianism as a special topic of interest, a special subject matter, a special analytical focus or a special normative dimension of sociological thinking. Bringing together the latest work from a leading team of social theorists, this volume will be of interest to sociologists, social and political theorists, anthropologists and philosophers.

The main theme of my book is that the afterlife is real and substantial and that all of us, when we arrive there at some point, will soon realize this. Our spiritual bodies are very much like our natural bodies, except that the spiritual bodies are in perfect shape. Life in the afterlife is, at least superficially, very much like life on Earth. People in the spiritual world live in real places: beautiful cities or country locations in heaven, and noisome slums in hell. People there work as they do on Earthwillingly and joyously in heaven, not so in hell. They also enjoy time off from work, which is marvelous in heaven and, within strict limits, somewhat enjoyable in Hell. We are full human beings in the afterlife, up to and including that dreaded word for most religionssex. But in the spiritual world, time and space function differently, being fluid and connected to our thoughts and emotions; deception is nearly impossible, and the economy is a moneyless one.

A historical novel about the most unlikely of lovers, interwoven with the mysticism of the Jewish occult. Frances Sherwood brings to life the experience of the Jewish community during a period of oppression and rebirth. Set in seventeenth-century Prague, The Book of Splendor is an adventure-filled romance stocked with court intrigue and political tension, including the machinations of the rival Ottoman Empire, the religious controversies of Protestantism, and the constant threat of violence to the Jewish community. At the heart of the novel is Rochel, a bastard seamstress who escapes poverty through an arranged marriage to the tailor Zev, but falls in love with Yossel, the Golem created by Rabbi Loew to protect the Jewish community. Meanwhile, Emperor Rudolph II puts the safety of all Prague at risk in his mad bid for an elixir of immortality. The Book of Splendor is an epic tale reminiscent of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, and a love story as unlikely as Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring. Reading group guide included.