Burning Questions on the Issue of Cremation – A follow-up to “A Scriptural Defense of Cremation”

The previous article, “A Scriptural Defense of Cremation”, stirred many excellent comments and questions. Since many of the same questions were asked many times, it seemed like a good idea to take a close look at them in response. The following questions are a compilation of the similar type questions:

Question 1 – What is wrong with cremation since God is all-powerful and could do anything He wants to do? You are limiting God! He could resurrect ashes just as easily as he could bones. What about people who die in fires or airplane crashes? Are you saying they can’t be saved because they were burned up?

Response 1 – I would absolutely agree that God is not limited. He can do whatever He thinks best. The issue is not about what God can do. The issue is about our choices. Clearly, people who are burned up in tragic accidents did not make that choice and our God is perfectly able to resurrect them. That is not the issue. With cremation, we are making a decision that is not found in the Bible or in the entire history of Christianity until the 20^th century. How could it now be okay for Christians? “Everyone is doing it” is not an appropriate answer to that question unless we really want to open up “Pandora’s box” within Christianity.

Some people say that because God is able to resurrect ashes, He gives us permission to be cremated. This is a very flawed argument, especially since cremation is not supported by the Bible or historical Christianity in any way. It would be along the same lines as the argument St. Paul provides in Romans 5 and 6. He writes that “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” (Roman 5:20-6:2)

 

Again, the “doctrine” of cremation is not about what God can do. It is solely about our decision making. Who are we to decide that it is okay with God to burn up a human body? Remember that when God created human beings He said: “It is very good!” (Genesis 1:31) Remember that we are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). Remember that if you are “in Christ,” your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and, in the next verse, we are told to “honor God with your body!” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)  Could deciding to burn up your body truly honor God?

God does have guidelines for us as to how we should live, worship, etc. These have been in place over the centuries. Historically, the Christian Church buried folks because of the belief in the bodily resurrection. The Old Testament has a passage entitled: The Valley of Dry Bones (note that it is not the “Valley of Ashes”). It is found in Ezekiel 37:1-14. Listen to these words from verses 4-6: “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’” At the end of that passage, God even clarifies further in verses 13-14: “Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live!”

One final thought on why we bury the body and do not cremate it. Again, looking at the Bible, consider this from 1 Thessalonians 5:23:  “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!”  It really is a package deal! The body is not some separate entity that we can simply burn up as a useless piece of garbage. It is important to God and it should be important to each of His children.

Question 2 – I don’t get it. If there is nothing left of your body after decay, why would it matter whether you are buried or cremated? After all, the disposal of a soulless, lifeless body has nothing to do with the Bible anyway.

Response 2 – I would totally disagree with that last statement. The Bible has to do with all of life and death. One cannot hold to a “doctrine” of cremation and simply ignore everything the Bible has to say about the human body in death. To call a human body that has died “soulless” is a total misunderstanding of the Bible and the Christian Faith that has been followed for almost 2000 years now.

There are many, many things we “don’t get” in the Christian Faith and that is actually a very good thing. When it comes to the body being buried, St. Paul explains some of this to us in 1 Corinthians 15. He compares our bodily burial to a seed (verses 36-38):  “But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.” I love this comparison since I like planting flowers. If I look closely at a marigold seed and then plant it in the ground, what comes up looks absolutely nothing like that seed. St. Paul is saying that about our bodies. We have no idea what our glorified body will look like. That is truly something we “don’t get” in this amazing Faith.

St. Paul goes on to say (verses 42-44):  “So also is the resurrection of the dead. “The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.  It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”  St. Paul finishes up with this amazing word for us (verse 52): “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”  Our body is sown; not ashes, but our body. Just like the seed, we will plant a natural body and we will receive a spiritual body. The body that is raised will be incorruptible. Again, this is way beyond our understanding.

Question 3 – But Father, it is cheaper to have the body cremated, so why shouldn’t we save our loved ones some money? I’m afraid financial considerations have become the single criterion for most of us and having a settled, faithful opinion about cremation isn’t even in our sights.

Response 3 – Please, please look into the price of a burial done without embalming and with a simple casket. Caskets can be ordered from many Orthodox Christian sources at a very low price compared to some of the expensive models out there. You will find that financial considerations will no longer be the driving force.

One of the reasons for writing the first article, “A Scriptural Defense of Cremation”, was that the non-Scriptural basis of cremation was not “in the sights” of far too many Christians. It is hoped that readers will understand that the Bible does not support cremation in any way whatsoever. Christians who tell me they do their best to live according to the Bible should be questioning where this doctrine of cremation crept into Christianity. It was never held by our Christian Faith until well into the 20^th century. This also should raise concerns.

Lastly, Christians should never allow money to guide theology. Make no mistake about this issue being about theology. It has everything to do with our beliefs regarding who we are as Christians, what happens to us at death, and what takes place at the resurrection of the dead.