The resurrection of the body, writes one seventeenth-century Christian theologian, is the “peculiar treasure” of the Christian church. The resurrection is peculiar because it is not a product of unaided reason but relies upon a definitive revelation in Jesus Christ. Our only confidence that our bodies are destined for glory—and not mere dissolution—lies in the…

Through Christ, the gates to the dwelling place of the Lord have been opened, and it is the mission of his people, the church, to gather God’s people into his presence. As English poet and preacher John Donne (1572-1631) argues, preachers work in this economy as ambassadors of the Holy Spirit, sent to fulfill their…