What Is It Like To Be Dead?
Near-Death Experiences, Christianity, and the Occult
Jens Schlieter
Reviews and Awards
"What Is It Like To Be Dead?: Near-Death Experiences, Christianity and the Occult is a complex and deeply researched book that will repay being read many times. It is a powerful piece of research about how social and historical changes of circumstances influence and in fact often constitute the experiences humans record themselves having. It is a major contribution to Religious Studies, and I recommend it unreservedly." - Carole M. Cusack, University of Sydney, Religion
"What Is It Like to Be Dead? is extremely impressive and meticulously researched, constellating a vast array of primary source data in the production of an airtight genealogy... This book is imperative for those fortunate enough to work with the GnosticEsoteric and Spiritualist-Occult metacultures, Theosophy, or more generally, anyone who is curious about the nature of death or the shape of the soul." - Simon Cox, Rice University, Houston, Aries - Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism
"Schlieter has produced a...fascinating contribution to the literature... the book is unquestionably an important one." - Gregory Shushan, University of Wales, Journal of Near-Death Studies
"the book is of interest to everyone dealing with the intellectual history of modern Europe, particularly the great importance of various strands of religious and philosophical traditions that shape our current understanding of life and death. In addition, the book is also very interesting in terms of the theoretical approach that is meticulously developed regarding the specific topic and the many questions that arise in this context." - Franz Winter, Religious Studies Review
"...this work represents a step forward in the study of near-death reports. Schlieter has grasped the importance of researching the "genealogy" of these narratives, rather than naively receiving them without any context, either within a culture or the reporter's life, let alone accepting the accounts without any critical or even analytic engagement. The word "indispensable" is overused, but in my opinion, for those interested in the field of near-death narratives, this volume is indeed indispensable." - Joseph Azize, Numen
"Filling an almost unbelievable gap in the existing literature by interpreting and historicizing a concept everyone is familiar with near-death experiences Jens Schlieter's book is an insightful academic study that will surely touch some on a more personal level." - Julie Chajes, author of Recycled Lives: Madame Blavatsky and Reincarnation
"Finally a study of near-death reports that breaks with the predictable clichés of the popular genre. Schlieter shows that even intimate personal experiences cannot be understood unless they are placed in a solid historical framework. Many readers may be surprised to discover how strongly esoteric and occultist traditions have come to determine common ideas perhaps even their own ideas about what its like to be dead." - Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, University of Amsterdam
"Jens Schlieter has made a fascinating and indispensable contribution to the study of 'near-death experience' in historical perspective; especially eye-opening is the meticulous attention he gives to early modern examples from a wide range of literary, philosophical, religious, and occultist movements." - Carol Zaleski, author of Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times
"Recommended" - CHOICE