Approximately half of those who have lost a loved one have experienced a post-death presence. This article describes some characteristics of such experiences based on qualitative interview studies with bereaved people. The phenomenological descriptions explore the post-death presence experiences on a continuum from a vague sense of presence to clear sensory perceptions. In the clearer experiences, the deceased appears with a recognizable, yet different, body and with the ability to communicate. Such post death-presence experiences are perceived differently from memories and inner dialogues, instead interpreted by most percipients as (also) coming from outside. Some of the attempts to explain post-death presence are discussed and are shortly connected to theological conversations concerning death.

Theology concerning death fundamentally also concerns life. What we say about the risen human being reveals our general theological anthropology in significant ways. Therefore, soteriology and anthropology are deeply connected. How do we envision our risen bodies, our resurrected genders? Which aspects of the human being will be transformed, and which will remain the same when we reach a fulfilled imago Dei? This article juxtaposes Irenaeus and Judith Butler to explore these questions.

Is it rational to believe in life after death? This article has two main parts. The first part offers a new formulation of an argument for life after death based on the existence of God. The second part offers a new and detailed way of how to understand how life after death is possible. The article concludes that life after death is both possible and plausible.

Jesus presents a demanding ethics and at the same time accepts sinners seemingly without any conditions. Luther integrates this perspective by maintaining both the absolute demands of the law and the unconditional gift of the gospel without a logical, i.e., meritorious, connection. While maintaining the same distinction, Barth felt he had to strengthen the political significance of theological ethics. Liberation theology went beyond Barth, finding the primary significance of theology in its fight against political oppression. Arguably, it then becomes dependent on political utopianism in a way that subverts the paradoxality of the gospel of unconditional grace for all sinners.