CREMATION AND RELIGION

“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body…” (I Corinthians 15:44)

For as long as the practice of cremation has existed, it has provoked much debate. Cremation and religion have been a subject of much attention through the ages. Historical evidence suggests that cremation has been commonly performed since before 800 B.C., and so cremation and religion has been a consideration since even before modern historical artifacts were compiled. The word cremation comes from the Latin word “cremo” which means "to burn", particularly the burning of the dead.

The Christian church permits cremation but strongly prefers burial pointing to the practice in both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. While most Christian tradition clearly favors burial, the Bible nowhere explicitly condemns cremation. Cremation doesn't affect anyone's salvation. Therefore the Bible should not be used as a proof text either for the necessity of burial or for cremation. The real question for Christians is not whether one is buried or cremated but the meaning given to these acts.

Cremation was practiced in biblical times, but it was not commonly practiced by the Israelites or by New Testament believers. In the cultures of Bible times, burial in a tomb, cave, or in the ground was the common way to dispose of a human body. While burial was the common practice, the Bible nowhere commands burial as the only allowed method of disposing of a body.

The early church saw burial as an expression of faith in Jesus' redemption of the physical body. However, burial is not scripturally mandated. First Corinthians 15:35-55 explains that our physical body is a mere seed, and God will raise for us an imperishable, glorious, spiritual body. As long as the intent is glorifying to God, it doesn't matter if a body is buried or cremated.

There is no explicit scriptural command against cremation. Some believers object to the practice of cremation on the basis it does not recognize that one day God will resurrect our bodies and re-unite them with our soul and spirit (I Corinthians  15:35-58; I Thessalonians 4:16). However, the fact that a body has been cremated does not make it any more difficult for God to resurrect that body. The bodies of Christians who died a thousand years ago have, by now, completely turned into dust. This will in no way prevent God from being able to resurrect their bodies. He created them in the first place; He will have no difficulty re-creating them. Cremation does nothing but “expedite” the process of turning a body into dust. God is equally able to raise a person’s remains that have been cremated as He is the remains of a person who was not cremated.

Jesus gave little attention to the disposal of the dead. In fact, His only words on the subject were, “Let the dead bury their own dead” (Luke 9:59-60). At first, this appears to be a harsh and unfeeling response, but Jesus was determined that those who followed Him would give Him their full attention; the disposing of the body of the dead was obviously of very low priority. If the Bible renders a low priority to this issue then it would seem that the method of disposal may be left to individual taste and, perhaps, other societal and environmental dictates.

The Apostle Paul’s writings deemphasized the body. He found sacred value only in the living body. It is the living body that is the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19), not the dead one. Just as a temple is constructed for worship and is destroyed after it is no longer used for worship, the body may be dispensed with in a like manner. Paul viewed the body as an earthly vassal that would soon be demolished after use. He concluded his view of death by stating, “We are confident...and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (II Corinthians 5:8). Paul has his fullest discussion on life after death in 1Corinthians 15. There he stated “that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (v.50).

Paul did not believe that the remaining dust in a tomb would be the substance of a new heavenly organism. When the apostle writes about the resurrection of the dead, he does not mean the reassembling and the reanimation of the corpse. The expression “spiritual body” (I Corinthians 15:44) which he uses does not refer to the physical skeleton and the flesh that hangs on it. Rather, in modern terminology, it means the self or the personality. What removed death’s sting for Paul was not gazing at a prettified corpse but the good news that mortal nature can “put on immortality” (I Corinthians 15:54).

Throughout time, the topic of cremation and religion has continued to elicit heated debate. Many religions recognize cremation as a valid and acceptable social custom, while other religions find cremation to be improper and objectionable. Each religion validates their beliefs by a long existing history that is of great significance to the basis of their traditions. Since Scripture nowhere warns against cremation as a method of handling the remains of the dead and everywhere asserts God’s power to raise the dead from every situation of history past, it stands to reason that cremation is a personal choice. It would seem to be a matter best decided by individual Christian freedom and conviction. A person or a family considering this issue should pray for wisdom (James 1:5) and follow the conviction that results.