Is Cremation Biblical?

It is certain that burying a child is in no one's agenda. Therefore, such was the most painful chore I had to endure. Instead of shopping for that new dress to wear for my son's wedding, I found myself shopping for a grave for him,... and making funeral arrangements. His death being most unexpected!

Among the many shocks that awaited me were the enormous costs of providing a decent Christian burial for my son! I was certainly not prepared for any of it, if it is that one can ever prepare themselves for such an unnatural event: that of burying a child.

I was and am not financially well off, and so decided to have him cremated. I could have in no way afforded any more! I had to have the grave site, a double plot (for him and me), paid for before I could bury him, so I brought his ashes home for a few months.

Up to then I had been the regular Roman Catholic: 52 years of church on Sundays (for the most part!), believed in not much of what it said (I called myself a "smorgasbord Catholic!"), just that ordinary automaton that "fulfills" the required ritual. My "duty" was done, and I went on with "life!"

But now there was no more life! I had come to a dead end, face first into this invisible wall that I could not penetrate. I had no more purpose for living, thus, why was I here? Worse was the fact that I knew not where my son was! I never believed in "purgatory!" I always operated on the level of what made sense, and purgatory never made sense to me! It was absurd that some miserable soul be dependent on third-party prayers, and/or the ability to pay for "indulgences" through bought Masses! I saw God as this incredibly JUST entity, extremely smart, and purgatory was downright dumb to me!

So, where was he, my son, my only child that I lost at 27 years of age?

I turned to the Bible, a spanking-new Bible I had owned since the 70's, but for which I had not found much use... until then! This was the end of 1999! My son had died in July of the same year.

In my quest to learn I forget to just how many churches of different denominations I went, none to ever satisfy my spiritual needs.

But it was in the Episcopal Church that Father Ward did a sermon at my request, on death and burial. The sermon ended, I met him at the door: "Father, you did not address the issue of cremation, as you promised me you would!" "OH!" says he, "I did! But since there was not enough time to talk about it, I will have it in the printout you will get next week!"

Indeed, the sermons were always gotten the following week, in print.

Very expectantly, the following week I picked up the printout on my way out of the church.

Too bad I no longer have this printout which I kept for years in my Bible, albeit I could never read it again, I found it so very offensive. It must have fallen out sometime and I was not aware of it. So, I can only paraphrase the two sentences I shall never forget:

"We don't burn people!"
"We burn garbage!"

Garbage! That is how it was I treated my son! Like garbage! I remember gasping in horror in reading the sad and most unkind print! This man took not into consideration my financial inability but accused me of purposely burning my son as if I were disposing of garbage! How gutsy of him to not have voiced such in church, where, I am certain, there would be many more gasps to be heard, not to mention the likes of me walking out!

That day I decided on two things. One, this was not the church for me, to which I never went back; Two, there would be no doubt as to how my remains were to be disposed: I would be cremated! In no way would I "treat" my son in a "lesser" way than I would treat myself!

But, through the years this point had never been settled on Biblical grounds for me, and today I just happened to have seen something on Cremation on the Internet, that brought it to mind. I don't know why I did not think to look into it before in this Christian site that I trust, and use a lot, Jesus-is-Savior.com.

Is Cremation Biblical?

By David J. Stewart

I personally don't think it's wrong to be cremated for a couple reasons. First, burial expenses range anywhere from $8,000 and up. God wouldn't want us to place that kind of burden upon our loved ones at death. Second, the Apostle Peter was burned upside down at the stake. Certainly God can give us new bodies, and will, at the Rapture (1st Corinthians 15:52,53). Lazarus was dead for 4-days and the Bible said he stank from the rot of his dead body; but Jesus raised him up alive and healthy again. So, I'm not worried about that.

I do think burial is preferred, as the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; however, there is NO Biblical command to do so, and it would be wrong for us to mandate what the Bible does not.

The issue is whether or not it pleases God one way or the other how we are placed to rest. Since the Bible does not give a direct command on the issue, I think it is a matter of preference. This is just my opinion. Cremation is much cheaper than burial and God doesn't expect us to pay today's exorbitant funeral expenses. I know it's a morbid subject; but such is life.

The fact of the matter is that most of the people in the world today, and throughout history, have been buried directly into the soil (with no casket not embalming). This means that their bodies rotted in the soil from decomposition. Out of over 6,000,000,000 people alive on earth today, two-thirds of them live on less than $2 per day, and one-third on less than $1 per day. Do you think most of them will be embalmed with formaldehyde to prevent decay and rot? No, most of them are simply buried and allowed to deteriorate into the soil. This would seem to thwart the notion of burying one's body in anticipation of being raised up again at the Rapture. In most cases there won't be a body to raise because it will have decomposed into the earth.

So, in my opinion, it is wrong to teach that cremation is sinful, when the Word of God does not address this issue. The Lord is able to do anything and will resurrect all bodies from the earth, whether previously buried or burned into ashes. If God could speak the universe into existence by the mere Word of His mouth, then he can certainly can resurrect our human remains into a new incorruptible body at the Rapture. Amen!

The Lord understands that death is a scary thing for many of us. Who'd want to be buried 6-feet under and their brain still be conscious in a casket? No doubt some people worry about this. God understands, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14). God knows our concerns and fears. I don't think it is a lack of faith in God to have genuine worries and concerns about the afterlife. The important thing is that we BELIEVE (i.e., trust) on the name of Jesus Christ for our salvation, in spite of any doubts we may have. No amount of doubt can prevent a person from going to Heaven just so long as they "BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 16:31).

So, I think cremation is acceptable if it comforts one's heart and makes one feel better. If God had wanted us buried in the ground, then He would have stated so. Jesus spoke openly to the world and said what He had to say, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). Jesus never said anything about how we should be placed to rest, he simply said to let the dead bury their dead... "But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead" (Matthew 8:22). This Scripture, to me, shows that burial wasn't an issue with Jesus. The big issue is that we follow Jesus, trusting Him to forgive our sins and take care of everything else.

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