Death and Religion: The Basics

<p><em>Death and Religion: The Basics</em> provides a thorough and accessible introduction to dying death grief and conceptions of the afterlife in world religions. </p><p>It leads readers through considerations of how we understand meanings of death and after-death and the theories and practices attached to these states of being with recourse to various religious worldviews: Judaism Islam Christianity Hinduism Sikhism Buddhism Chinese Religions and Native American belief systems. This inter-religious approach provides a rich dynamic survey of varying and evolving cultural attitudes to death. Topics covered include:</p><ul> <p> </p> <li>Religious perspectives of the good death</li> <p> </p> <li>Grief bereavement and mourning</li> <p> </p> <li>Stages and definitions of death</li> <p> </p> <li>Burial cremation and disposition</li> <p> </p> <li>Remembrance rituals </li> <p> </p> <li>Religious theories of the afterlife </li> <p> </p> <li>Death and technology </li> </ul><p>Featuring a glossary suggestions for further reading in each chapter and key terms this is the ideal text for students approaching the intersection of death and religion for the first time and those in the fields of religious studies thanatology anthropology philosophy and sociology. </p>