麻豆社

After being present at the death of a friend, journalist Abdul-Rehman Malik has been thinking about what - if anything - comes next. In many faith traditions, death is just the end of the beginning and is the doorway to the eternal. It is the soul that carries us forward.

From the visions of an itinerant Baptist preacher and the reflections of James Baldwin, Abdul-Rehman looks to the urgency of understanding something of the mystery of death while we are alive. The world's most enduring mythologies and beliefs describe a supernatural drama and kind of unseen theatre. Whether it's Virgil writing about crossing the River Styx, or the Prophet Muhammad explaining how the angels surround the soul after death, Abdul-Rehman takes us into this grey area between life and life everlasting.

Richard Thompson captures the comedy of what purgatory might look like, and theologian Dave Tomlinson offers a reinterpretation of the Christian narrative which has resonance with some enigmatic words from Einstein.

Abdul-Rehman seeks solace in the belief that his friend's soul is somewhere full of "life", dancing with the angels nourished by a truer reality. His eternity is just beginning.

Presenter: Abdul-Rehman Malik
Producer: Jonathan Mayo
A TBI production for 麻豆社 Radio 4.