Views of the Future State examines shifting conceptions of the afterlife among literate inhabitants of the antebellum and Civil War-era Deep South. The relatively static 1820 views of a dualistic heaven and hell took on a vibrant complexity by 1865. The challenges of scientific discoveries, universalism, mesmerism, spiritualism, Swedenborgianism, and finally war encouraged bold questioning. Southerners no longer focused primarily on how to get to heaven, as they had done for generations. The seekers among them thirsted for detailed depictions of the celestial realms. They were particularly intrigued with those who claimed to have first-hand experience of heaven. Afterlife beliefs then, as now, encompassed a complex and dynamic spectrum of thought. Baker begins to offer shape to the spectrum by examining the outer fringes of acceptable questioning-the place where orthodox religious people actively resisted deviations in thought and method by the seekers and skeptics in their midst.

Analyzing the voluminous writings of this era and the evidence of public consumption of and debate over them, Baker takes readers on a fascinating human journey. Views of the Future State presents a much-needed chapter in the heritage of spiritual seekers and raises timeless questions about life after death.