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…

The resurrection is good news for us, but do we treat it as good news for others, or are we content to have won eternity ourselves? What did Christ himself teach us to do? A Lutheran theologian and pastor, Johannes Brenz (1499–1570) preached the Reformation message in Schwäbisch-Hall, Württemberg, and Tübingen. Here, Brenz teaches that…

Women were the first to share the good news of the resurrection. Though they were not believed, then, we live now in the light first shone by these our mothers and sisters. In this excerpt from his postil on the Gospel reading for Easter Sunday, the Lutheran pastor, teacher, and amateur playwright Johann Baumgart (1514–1578)…

Martin Luther looks forward from Adam to resurrection and Consummation (Genesis 2:21-22) But the sleep of Adam—so sound that he was not aware of what was being done to him—is a picture, as it were, of the transformation which would have taken place in the state of innocence. The righteous nature would have experienced no death but…