The Resurrection of the Body
As taught in the Lutheran tradition
The central hope of the physical rising of all the dead on the Last Day.
When we stand together on a Sunday morning and recite the Apostles’ Creed, we come to those final, stirring words: 'I believe in... the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.' It is a phrase we perhaps say so often that we might lose sight of just how radical and physically grounded it truly is. For the Christian, and especially within the Lutheran tradition, our hope is not merely a vague 'spiritual' survival or a wish to spend eternity as disembodied souls floating on clouds. Rather, our hope is anchored in the promise that just as Christ was raised from the dead with a physical, recognisable body, so too shall we be.
By the end of this lesson
- Articulate the physical nature of the resurrection as distinct from a purely 'spiritual' afterlife.
- Explain the significance of Christ’s own resurrection as the 'firstfruits' and the guarantee of our own rising.
- Identify the key Lutheran confessional statements regarding the Last Day and the return of Christ.
- Connect the doctrine of the resurrection to the theology of the Cross and the sacraments of Baptism and the Altar.
- Provide a scripturally-grounded comfort to those facing death or bereavement, using the hope of the physical rising.
- Distinguish the historic Christian hope from gnostic or dualistic views that devalue the physical body.
Scripture
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