Eternal Life? Life After Death as a Medical, Philosophical, and Theological Problem (Ewiges Leben?) was published by R. Piper & Co. Verlag in 1982 (English translation by Edward Quinn published by Doubleday in 1984), and it applies Küng’s characteristic method — rigorous engagement with modern knowledge followed by a statement of what faith can still reasonably affirm — to the question of life after death.
Küng examines the question from three perspectives. The medical perspective addresses near-death experiences, clinical death, and the neuroscience of consciousness — asking what these phenomena tell us about the relationship between mind and body. The philosophical perspective addresses the classical arguments for and against immortality — from Plato through Hume to contemporary philosophy of mind. The theological perspective addresses what the Christian tradition (and other religious traditions) actually claim about life after death — claims that are more varied and more sophisticated than popular religion imagines.
Küng’s conclusion is characteristic: he cannot prove that eternal life exists, but he argues that hope for it is rationally defensible — that it is coherent with what we know about consciousness, consistent with the deepest insights of the religious traditions, and practically important because it shapes how we understand the meaning (or meaninglessness) of human life and death.
Collecting Eternal Life?
First English edition (Doubleday, New York, 1984): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First English edition in dust jacket: $10–$25
- First German edition (Piper, 1982): $15–$35