Leven voor de dood. Aanzetten tot een christelijke thanatologie

Popular literature shows the need for a contemporary art of dying. This article argues for a Christian thanatology that engages modern phenomena such as near-death-experiences, end-of-life legislation and an imagination that cannot envisions life beyond death. Reformed sources provide three elements for a Christian thanatology: (a) death as the boundary of human existence; (b) a spiritual attitude toward death; and (c) death and as an eccentric existence. A Christian thanatology moves beyond a systematic-theological exploration of the ‘last things’ to offer a ‘practical eschatology’ able to relate Christian imagination with cultural expressions.